A Million Miles Apart
by Kamechan98
Summary: After an argument among the brothers, tragedy strikes as Donatello is separated from the team, leaving his family behind to grieve over his presumed death. Meanwhile, Donnie is thrown into a whole new world and is, alongside his new friends, racing against time and all odds to save his family and planet Earth from the evil Triceratons, and the terrifying Heart of Darkness.
1. Prologue

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Hey, new story! I came up with the plot for this story a while back, and I wanted to write it down now, since I've wanted to write it for a while now.**

 **So, the only thing is, I don't know what way to do it. So** **I have put up a poll with two alternatives of what kind of story I will write. I would really appreciate it if you could at at least check it out and give your opinion. But you don't have to feel forced.**

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Prologue

Journal entry, July 14th 2014 (A.K.A, about a week after the Wormquake incident)

 _You know, I'm not gonna act like my brothers and I are perfect. I know we all have our flaws and we drive each other crazy that way, but still, I wouldn't change them in any way. To me, they're great the way they are. Sounds cheesy, I know, but it's true. Call me a dork if you want, I still mean it._

 _Leo may be a perfectionist, a teacher's pet, and sometimes a bit too protective and cautious, but he's also a great older brother to all of us. He's very strong, caring, and does everything he can to protect us from any harm. I believe that he, without a thought of hesitation, would just sprint into a burning building to save us, even if it meant that he would lose his own life in the process._ _Plus, he's also the only one of my brothers who doesn't crash or destroy everything he touches. Well, except the toaster but he doesn't do it intentionally._

 _Raph is, to put it mildly, a hothead and very irrational. But he's a warrior through and through and that drives him to protect us from danger as well. He once told Splinter that he had no problem with risking his own life when in danger, but he would never risk our lives. That both worries me and makes me feel special. Raph might show it very rarely, but he has a soft side... But in order to cover it up he sometimes acts like a bully. Although to be fair, he's gotten less cruel since that first Kraang invasion when Leo sacrificed himself so we could get away._

 _Mikey, well, what can I say about Mikey? He's very random, wild and very optimistic. I'm convinced that he lives in his own world where everything is awesome and always great. He's by no means stupid, but he has problems with keeping his focus and has a hard time staying serious. I told Splinter when I was ten that I thought Mikey had ADHD, but that didn't seem to bother him at all. He's a great fighter and if he did focus a little more when we train, I think he could be better than Leo. But with that being said, he's really sweet and kind, kinda like a little kid. He's that light that keeps the dark away from completely surrounding us._

 _But lately, ever since the whole Wormquake thing happened about a week ago, I have had a hard time getting along with the guys._

 _Leo hasn't really been so bad, but he's stopped listening to me and my ideas about how to take down Shredder or the Kraang. And he barely even talks to me about anything else, the things I need to fix being the only exception._

 **...**

Leo walked into my lab and I looked up from my computer with a smile.

"Hey, Leo. What's up?" Leo didn't smile back and placed one hand on the desk, looking me straight in the eyes. He wasn't pleased, I could see that.

"Donnie, I asked you to repair the Shellraiser three days ago and it's still not fixed. Why is that? We need it for tonight's patrol, and it's not ready or repaired. Why?" I held back a groan, stood up and walked up to him.

"Leo, I've tried to make time to fix it, but Raph and Mikey have been giving me other things to fix the last few days, and you know that they won't give me any peace until Mikey's video game system or Raph's punching bag is fixed. I've also tried to make more retromutagen for the mutants we have to un-mutate. I'm trying to make the time but-" Leo interrupted me and narrowed his eyes at me.

"Well, make sure to make the time you need! We need it tonight, so make sure it's ready!" He turned around and was about to leave, but I placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Uh, Leo? I've actually come up with a few ideas for inventions that can help us take down the Kraang's portal, for example. I have an idea for an invention that can-" Leo shrugged off my hand and stared me down with stern eyes.

" _No_ , Donnie! Right now, all you need to think of is making sure that the Shellraiser is ready for tonight. Nothing else matters right now." And with that he left the room, leaving me feeling hurt and depressed. He hadn't even bothered to listen to what I had to say, he just shot me down and left. I sighed, turned off my computer, picked up my toolbox and walked over to the Shellraiser. I started to work.

 **...**

 _Raph has become more aggressive than usual and never listens to what I have to say. He breaks things, (probably out of anger) hands them over to me and just expects me to fix them without any second thoughts, since "that's all I'm good for", like he says._

 **...**

"DONNIE!" Raph stomped into my lab with the toaster under his arm. He looked angry, as usual, and his loud voice made me jump in my seat, since I was so focused on what I was doing. I looked up from my laptop and tried to smile so Raph would calm down a little.

"Yes, Raph? What is it now?" Raph ignored that I sounded a little sarcastic and just dumped the broken toaster on my desk. I saw that a thin trail of smoke was seeping from the top and assumed that Raph had broken the toaster himself and hadn't found it broken.

"You have to fix this thing! Mikey's gonna complain all morning tomorrow if he can't make toast for breakfast, you know that just as well as I do!" I frowned at him and looked back at my computer.

"Sure, I'll get to that in a minute. I have to repair the Shellraiser's engine so we can use it tonight. The mechanics have messing with me a little to so I have to check that out too, and the electromagnetic-" Raph growled, slammed his fist down on the desk and made me jump a mile into the air.

"I don't _care_ about what you _have_ to do, just make sure that you fix that stupid toaster! It's been broken, like, a million times in the past, so fixing it now shouldn't take that long, right?" I took a few deep breaths to calm myself after Raph's little outburst, stood up and looked Raph straight in the eyes.

"Raph, don't you ever stop to think that I may have other interests than fixing things for you guys? Don't you think that I may want to just sit down and watch TV or play video games or do the things that you guys do with your free time? I'm only half-human, you know. I want to enjoy my time of being a kid like you do too." Raph just raised an eyebrow at me before he turned around to walk out of the room.

"Whatever! All I care about is that you fulfill your duty to this team. You're the smart guy, your task is to make sure that everything is repaired and built, and to hack into Kraang computers or find cures for their mutations. If you can't do that, what the heck are you good for then?" And with that, he left the room and I didn't know if I should be angry or start to cry. I did neither. I just took a deep breath, held it for five seconds and let it out. Then I picked up the toaster to fix it. Better fix this before Mikey comes in here and wants me to fix something that he broke himself.

* * *

 _Oh, yeah. And then there's Mikey. Well, to be fair, he hasn't changed all that much. He still talks to me and wants to spend time with me every other day, like talk to me while I work or watch TV with me. But he has changed a little, though. He's become a bit more annoying and likes to come in and talk or try to convince me to do something 'fun' and that usually ends up with him messing something up in my lab so I have to start my projects all over again._

 **...**

"Hey, D!" I groaned inwardly and silently counted to ten before I looked up from the chemicals in front of me and tried sound pleasant. Mikey stood in the doorway, leaning against the wall with slice of pizza in hand.

"Hey, Mikey. Do you need something? If you do, do you think that it could wait? I'm kinda busy at the moment." Mikey swallowed the last of his pizza and walked up to me.

"No, dude, I don't need anything from you. I just wanna hang out with my big bro a little. You've been locked up in here all day." I sighed. If Mikey wanted to hang out, then he would either stay in here and entertain himself or he would nag on me until I left the lab to do something fun. I tried to smile and put down the canister with mutagen and the small syringe with April's blood that I had asked for a few days ago.

"Thanks Mikey, but don't you think that Raph might be a little more fun to hang out with, or even Leo? I mean, I have to make more retromutagen and then I have to work on the Shellraiser a little. I'm not saying that you _have_ to leave, I'm just saying that you would probably be bored if you hung out in here." Mikey just shook his head with a smile and then, to my horror, jumped up and sat down on my desk.

"Nah dude, I think you need someone to-" He stopped talking when he knocked over the canister with mutagen and it almost rolled down in my lap! Thankfully I was quick to get out of the chair and pull it away, and the mutagen hit the floor instead. The green goo spread out over the floor. Mikey and I stared at it for a while, and then he jumped off the desk, walked up to me (careful to avoid stepping in the mutagen) and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Donnie? Dude, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" I shrugged off his hand, took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds, then turned to Mikey with a forced smile.

"No, no, Mikey. It's okay, it was just an accident. Now, if you wouldn't mind, would you please get out of my lab so I can clean it up? I need to be alone for a moment." Mikey nodded understandingly, albeit a little dejectedly and slowly left the lab and closed the door behind himself. I let out a loud sigh and then grabbed the hose that I used whenever I needed to clean the Shellraiser and let the water wash the mutagen down into the floor drain in the middle of the room.

Mikey has always been a little clumsy, ever since we were little, but lately he has messed up quite a lot of my experiments or at least distracted me while I worked, which wasn't that much better. I've tried to ask him to be careful while I was working on my experiments or my inventions, but for some reason he always managed to knock something over or mess up the experiment altogether, like when he dropped that ice cream in the mutagen that later created Ice Cream Kitty. I guess that was just another part of his personality.

When I was done cleaning up, I picked up another canister filled with the mutagen and got back to work. Clumsy little brothers or no little brothers at all, I still needed to make that retromutagen.

* * *

 _Ever since the Kraang and Shredder came back from the first invasion, we've all been a little tense. And I can understand that they all have their own ways of dealing with stress and pressure. But that doesn't give them a reason to use me as their punching bag. And the less I say about April and Casey the better. Casey and I have an especially hard time talking or just being in the same room without fighting or arguing. Though to be fair, it has gotten a little better since we worked together to get those Kraangworms back to Dimension X, so I guess I shouldn't complain too much. Though April has been around him most of the time and less with me so I haven't talked much to her lately._

 _The only one who listens to me nowadays is Master Splinter. He listens when I say that I feel unappreciated and mistreated. And he told me to try and talk with them and discuss how I feel and that it should stop. But whenever I try, they say stuff like 'I don't have time right now' or 'I'm playing video games right now, dude, maybe later' or even 'Donnie, a whole city and even the world is at stake every day, we can't think of our own personal problems right now!' and it's starting to tick me off._

 _They just never listen to me anymore. It's like I don't exist._

 _Like I'm a million miles away from them, every single day..._

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"Donnie, it's time for patrol!" I looked up from my journal. That was Leo, calling out to me from the living room. It was time to go out on patrol, so I had to stop writing and get out there, where the others were waiting for me.

"Okay, I'm coming!" I finished the last dot after 'day', put the pen down on the desk, closed my journal and put it down in one of my drawers where I had my other journals, under a thick book, so in case anyone went through my drawers they wouldn't immediately see them. I stood up from my desk, grabbed my bō staff and walked out of my lab, into the living room. Another day, another fight against evil.

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 **A/N: Okay, that was a prologue, as a way of giving so a little something to read and tell me what you think of it. I'll put a little more drama into the next chapter, if you want me to continue it.**

 **OBS, _Please_ go to my profile and vote for your favorite alternative of how this story should play out. I only have one vote so far, and I want a little more than that. So please, vote! And also review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	2. Chapter 1, Big fights and three words

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Okay, here's the first, real chapter of this chapter and I hope that you'll like this chapter! I was listening to 'The Moon Rises' to get inspiration for the argument between the brothers and Donnie's thoughts, so if you've heard the song, you might recognise some things. And a little scene from Brave is also in there somewhere.**

 **About my poll, so far seven people have voted and it's six against one so the plot from here would most likely be alternative number 1, which you can find on my profile. So, with one chapter left before the 'tragedy' happens, you can still vote before I delete the poll and write chapter three! So, if you haven't you can still check the poll out and vote. As many times as you'd like!**

 **Anyway, hope you'll like this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 1, Big fights and three words

I walked around in my lab, thinking over the situation. Over the past few weeks I've been feeling more like a handy-man and less like a brother. And my brothers don't even seem to notice what they're doing. I mean, Raph and Leo never listen, they boss me around and/or give me a pounding if I don't obey them. Mikey hasn't really done anything out of the ordinary, just become maybe a little more thoughtless and clumsy. Nothing I can't handle. But that doesn't mean I should have to.

"I don't know, Timothy. It feels like they don't care about me anymore. I mean, I can do things no human can. Seriously, I can hack computers years ahead of our Earth's technology! I can make a cure for mutations! And I've made most our weapons out of garbage and made them fantastic! So why do they treat me like dirt and boss me around like a little kid who doesn't know anything?" I sat down in my computer chair and placed my face in my hands. I snuck a peek between my fingers at the frozen Timothy, who just stared out into the air. Anger started to boil up in me and I stood up, clenched my hands into fists and frowned at the closed the door that led to the living room where my brothers were watching TV.

"Is it so wrong to ask for a little consent? And is it so wrong to ask them to think of me as their brother and not as their personal assistant? I mean, why shouldn't they? Isn't it my right to feel like I'm loved by my own family? I've waited long enough for them to ease up and apologize for what they're doing, and I'm sick of it!" I placed my hands over my face and took deep breaths to calm down. Anger just clouds your mind, so much had I learned after living with Raph for fifteen years. If I wanted to talk with the others about this, I had to be calm and collected. I decided to go and try to talk with Leo about this, since he was the most mature and calm out of my brothers.

I walked out of the lab and into the living room and saw Leo, Raph and Mikey sitting and watching TV lazily. Mikey was sitting inches away from the TV screen and his blue eyes were filled with excitement and happiness. Raph and Leo also seemed rather pulled into the show as well. I decided to start slowly and not go right at the problem, wait until the show was over and then start to talk about the issue at hand. Leo smiled lightly at me when I sat down, but Raph and Mikey didn't even seem to notice me. The awkward tension between us felt so thick that you cut it with a knife, and I felt like I couldn't breathe with it clouding the atmosphere.

When the show was finally over, Leo stood up and said that it was time for patrol. But I was quick to interrupt.

"Uh, Leo? Can we talk for a second? I just wanna ask something." Leo looked sternly at me and raised an eyebrow, and for a moment I thought that he was suspicious about what I had to say.

"It's getting late, Donnie. If we don't go now, we'll get home late tonight." I nodded. I had expected this. Leo was always like this, he didn't want to waste time when it came to patrolling. It had been like that even before all this happened.

"I know, but it's really quick, I promise!" Raph rolled his eyes at me, picked up his sai from the couch and spun them between his fingers a few times before he secured them on his belt and sneered at me.

"Oh, come on, Leo! Stop wasting time talking, and let's go! He's probably just gonna complain again, like he always does." I stopped for a second, blinked twice and it took a few seconds to process what Raph had said. But when I understood what Raph was implying, I glared at him angrily and put on my hand on my hip.

"Excuse me? You wanna run that by me again? What do you mean, I always complain?!" Raph turned to me, a little surprised to see me so angry, but recovered himself and glared right back at me.

"Only that all you seem to do lately is complain. 'Oh, Leo and Raph, you never listen to me! Mikey, you're in the way when I try to work on my experiments! Can't you just try to treat me with respect?' Ugh! Donnie, I'm gonna give you some advice: nobody wants to listen to a whiner!" I felt my own anger build up inside and instead of ignoring Raph, like I should have, I yelled right back at him.

"Oh, so that means I have to put up with Leo never listening to me, you disrespecting me and Mikey being in the way when I try to work? I am trying to create more retromutagen, create more smoke bombs- that _you_ requested, by the way- and also try to come up with new weapons to help us defeat Shredder and Kraang! How can I do that when you guys always interrupt or give me other things to do?!" Raph was about to yell back when Leo stepped between us and glared- at me! In the corner of my eye I saw that Mikey looked pretty hurt, but right now my eyes were glued on Raph and Leo.

"Okay, that's enough, Donnie, you're way out of line!" I almost didn't believe what I was hearing. Leo was defending _Raph_ and accusing _me_ of being too harsh. I turned my anger towards Leo instead.

" _ME_? What have _I_ done to-" Leo interrupted and grabbed his swords, putting them on his back.

"Come on team, let's go on patrol. And Donnie, we'll have to talk about this new attitude of yours later." I was furious! How was this fair? Why was _I_ made the bad guy here? _They_ were the ones that didn't treat _me_ fairly! I groaned loudly and drew my staff out of the strap on my back, swinging it around in frustration.

" _Ugh_! This is _so_ unfair!" Leo turned to me and raised an eyebrow. Raph looked mildly amused, but at the same time incredibly bored, and Mikey just looked confused. Leo looked me in the eyes, placed both hands on his sides and put on a stern face.

"Oh? How is this unfair?" I turned to him again and I had to blink a few times so I wouldn't start crying. I had been ridiculed, insulted and disrespected by my brothers. I was _not_ about to give them the satisfaction of seeing me break down crying.

"You've never been there for me! All that I'm doing in the lab, that I'm building, inventing and creating, is for you guys! But you never ever ask me if I have any ideas of my own or if I want anything from you! And you always expect me to fix everything in this home without any second thoughts! _That_ is unfair!" Leo scoffed, rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Ugh, Donnie do you even hear yourself? We're all putting our lives on the lines everyday in order to fight the evil in this city and even this world, and you're complaining about not getting enough respect? You're acting like a baby! I get teased, ridiculed and disrespected by you three and you don't hear me complaining!" I took a deep breath, closed my eyes for a second and tried to calm down a little.

"Yeah, you do. Remember that time in China Town? You wanted us to fight the way you did when the point of the exercise was to get past you in any way we could. You complained then, didn't you?" Leo growled, walked up to me and dropped his arms to his sides.

"Yeah? Well, just because I was wrong about wanting you guys to fight like I did and I shouldn't force you to be like me, doesn't mean I should have to deal with you treating me like dirt and complain about how I act as your leader!" Okay, talk about a hypocrite right there! He was saying that I shouldn't complain about being disrespected when he does the exact same thing. In fact, he was complaining and whining right when he was scolding me for doing it!

"You're such a hypocrite, you know that? You felt the same way I do right now, and you tell me to not react the same way you did?" Leo glared at me, and I could see he was trying to calm down.

"Donnie, I learned that doing the right thing is more important than to earn respect and glory, maybe you should learn that too and not go around looking for admiration or love. Like you do with April." My jaw fell to the floor. How could _this_ be Leonardo? My big brother, who always strove to make us happy and keep us all safe? But I didn't loose my footing.

"Oh, you mean like how you're obsessed with Karai and making her come over to our side?" Leo was taken back and for a moment I thought he was gonna cry, but we got interrupted. Raph rolled his eyes, pushed Leo out of the way and shoved his face up by mine. A little closer than I liked, but I was too angry to care.

"Okay, Donnie; if you're gonna stand here and try to convince us that _we're_ the bad guys here, then maybe _you_ should take a look in the mirror yourself! _You_ ditched us when April was in danger before, even though you knew we needed you! _You_ released that monster of yours in your lab because you couldn't keep your mouth shut! You haven't exactly been doing nothing but great things lately either!" Anger clouded my head and I couldn't think clearly. I shoved Raph away from me and glared at him.

"Oh, sure, I'm the only one who's done horrible things! I saved one of our friends from being killed and you sent your pet turtle out to kill us, after you spilled mutagen in your room! Why did you take that mutagen again? Oh yeah, 'for safe keeping'. A great idea, by the way, Raph!" Raph growled at me and pushed me back.

"You were firing explosive fireworks around the lair and almost killed us and Spike! You've done nothing but mess up and have almost killed us more than once!" I pressed my finger into his plastron and pressed my face closer to his.

"At least _I'm_ doing something to help the situation! You've done nothing lately other than give _me_ pointless things to do here in the lair!" Raph's face showed nothing but pure rage, and he was about to yell back at me when Mikey interrupted us with a weak and sad voice.

"Guys, please stop fighting. Donnie, I'm sorry that I've messed up some of your experiments. I just wanted to hang out or help you. I'm sorry." I felt my anger cool down and I was about to answer Mikey, when Raph interrupted.

"Don't apologize, Mikey! He's just fishing for sympathy, just ignore him!" Immediately the anger returned to me and I seethed at Raph again.

"I am not! I'm just asking for a little respect! Is that a crime?" Leo shook his head, placed his hand on Raph's shoulder and gently pushed him aside. He walked up in front of me and talked calmly.

"Of course not, but you're acting like you want us to look up to you or worship your work, and granted, your inventions are really cool, but you can't force us to think you're awesome or something like that. It doesn't work like that!" Yeah, but wasn't what I meant. If I were a little calmer, then maybe this discussion could've turned out better, but sadly I was furious and couldn't help myself.

"Have you been listening to anything that I've been telling you?! I'm not asking for you to admire me, I just-" Leo interrupted again, held up his hand in a 'stop, there's no point in arguing with me' way and looked sternly at me.

"That is enough, Donatello! I will hear no more of this!" I felt the tears burn in my eyes, so I looked down at my feet, blinked hard to get rid of them and bit my lower lip. Three small words managed to slip out of my mouth. Three words that I thought I would _never_ say to any of my brothers, ever. But still, they came out my mouth, not louder than a whisper but still loud enough so everyone in the room could hear them.

"I hate you..." I looked up for a second to see the reactions, and I felt a small twinge of victory in my chest. Leo looked both flabbergasted and hurt, and his glare had melted into a sad and hurt face. Raph's eyes had widened and he looked a little hurt as well, but he tried to cover it up with a glare, folded his arms over his chest and looked down at the floor, trying to look unfazed. Mikey had a few tears running down his face and I immediately felt bad for making my only little brother cry, but I couldn't help it. It had to be said or I would explode from the anger built up in my heart.

"What is going on in here? Why haven't you gone out for your evening patrol?" We all turned to Master Splinter, who stood in the doorway to the dojo and looked at us with stern but concerned eyes. I quickly dried away the few tears that had managed to slip out from my eyes, turned to Splinter again and tried to smile.

"It's okay, Sensei, we were just about to leave. Right, bros?" It took all the strength and willpower I had to say the word 'bros', since I was still mad at them, but I couldn't let Master Splinter know that. Leo nodded slowly and looked up at Splinter, but didn't even bother to try and smile. He sighed sadly.

"Yeah, right..." He looked down at the floor immediately after and we all started to walk out of the lair. Before I walked out of the lair I turned to look over my shoulder, at Splinter, and looked at his face. I could see that he saw that something was wrong, but I decided to tell him about what happened when we got back, and ran out of the lair to catch up with the others.

Even though it felt so good to get it all off my chest, I couldn't help but feel guilty over what I had said just a few seconds ago. I knew that we all got into fights sometimes, and we had all said things we didn't mean before. But the words 'I hate you' had never, ever been brought into those fights. Not even between Leo and Raph. Not even when we were kids. I walked behind my brothers and saw that none of them were smiling or even trying to look normal.

In a way, I had won the fight. But this victory didn't feel the least bit good, as I had hoped that it would.

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 **A/N: Wow, that was a tense chapter. I actually started to write this last night, cause I knew the argument had to be good, so that it would be all the more heartbreaking when tragedy strikes, and you know it will. I hope I didn't villanize any of the turtles, cause that wasn't the intention. The intention is make _both_ sides have flaws, not see things that clearly and in the end learn a lesson about how they're acting. Not just Leo, Raph and Mikey.**

 **Well, I hope you liked this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	3. Chapter 2, Suddenly million miles apart

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: New chapter time! Sorry that I've taken a few days, but I've been busy with having summer vacation. And also, about the poll, thank you all who have voted and I have now deleted the poll so you can't vote anymore. And with twelve votes the final result was eight against four, so the plot will be alternative 1 which is... (Drumroll please...)**

 **Donnie gets separated from his family and gets sent into a different part of the galaxy and has to fight to stay alive and also help his friends in a way while also trying to find his way back home!**

 **Hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 2, Suddenly a million miles apart

As we walked through the sewers we were all quiet and the atmosphere was really tense. Our argument back at the lair had gotten out of control and I guess that I had gone a little over the line, but Donnie had been just as bad. I've been trying to keep cool and focus on keeping the city safe from Shredder and Kraang. Not to mention our current Karai situation! Could you blame me if I was a little tense and stressed and wanting try and keep order in the lair?

But I had never expected that he would say that he hated us. None of us have ever said that before. Not even Raph during his worst temper tantrums.

We got onto the rooftops and ran towards April's house, where we were supposed to meet both April and Casey and then go off on patrol together. A while back, Mr. Kurtzman had told us that the Kraang were trying to open up their portal again and that they might bring out new mutants or monsters from their dimension. So tonight we were going to check it out, and then destroy their portal if we had to. It seemed to be at the same place where April, Donnie and Casey had found those Kraang worms a few weeks earlier, so that's where we were headed.

April and Casey were standing on the roof of April's apartment and looked up from the street, waving at us. But when she saw that we didn't smile, or respond in any way at all, April's smile faltered and she looked at me with concern. She walked up and placed her hand on my shoulder.

"Leo, are you guys okay? You don't look so good." I didn't know what to answer. I didn't want to talk about our fight, not yet. I looked at my brothers, who didn't look like they wanted to talk about our fight either. Raph had a sad/angry frown on his face and his arms crossed over his chest. Mikey's eyes were red from his crying and he kept looking down at his feet, rubbing his left arm subconsciously. And Donnie's expression was a little harder to read. It looked like a mixture of anger, guilt and hurt and he had his arms crossed over his chest, just like Raph. I shrugged and tried to smile.

"We've just had a little argument tonight, April. It's no big deal, really. C'mon, guys, let's get moving." I gently shrugged off April's hand and started to walk towards the edge of the building so I could spot the closest manhole. Raph, Mikey and Donnie slowly followed me, but April and Casey stayed behind for a few seconds, looked at each other in concern and worry and then joined us.

As we walked through the sewers, I thought over our fight back at the lair. Donnie had seemed really upset and hurt about what we all had said to him, (except for Mikey, that is, who hadn't really said much at all during our fight) and I could've sworn I had seen tears in his eyes. Donnie wasn't the kind of guy who would cry over nothing or simple, trivial things. So this had to be about something that really hurt him, and not something he just told us because he wanted to more recognition for what he did for us. I hadn't seen Donnie cry since we were about nine or ten years old, so the thought that I was responsible for making him cry was less than comforting. I looked over my shoulder and glanced at Donnie, who still had his arms crossed over his chest, looking down at the ground; the slight anger I had seen in his eyes earlier was replaced with sadness and guilt. I felt bad for seeing him like this, so I decided to talk to him about what had been said back at the lair later when we came home again.

The Kraang were busy preparing their portal for something. There were about fifteen Kraang-bots: five at the computers, programming the portal to open, I guess, and ten others were fixing the portal itself. We were all sitting behind a pile of fallen debris, looking down at the robots and trying to figure out what their plan was. Well, except for Raph, who grabbed his sai and was about to jump down to the ground and fight, but I managed to grab his arm just in time before he could.

"Hold on, Raph, let's listen to what their plan is before we destroy the place. It might be important." Raph glared at me and pointed down to the Kraang with the tip of his sai.

"Does it really matter? They're messing with that portal, and they're probably about to bring more of those Kraang-worms! Whatever they're up to, we have to stop them!" April shushed us both, pointed towards the Kraang and we both looked over to see what was going on. One of the Kraang-bots, who I guess was the boss right now, had started to talk.

"Kraang, when is the plan which is known as the plan of the Kraang that which is known as ready?" Wow, even after fighting the Kraang for almost a year I still couldn't get used to how the Kraang talked. Another Kraang-bot looked up from the computer.

"The plan of the Kraang will be ready in the time which is known as five minutes. Then the Kraatharagon will be that which is known as ready to be sent from that place that is known as Dimension X to the place where Kraang is standing in this place." Uh oh, that didn't sound very good. I signalled the guys to come closer so they could hear me.

"Okay, here's the plan. Raph, you and Casey take out as many Kraang as you can over at those computers. Mikey and I will will handle the other Kraang-bots. Donnie, you and April will try to close that portal. Got it?" All of them nodded and we split up.

Had I known what would happen in the next five minutes, I would've kept Donnie as far away from that portal as I possibly could, but I didn't. And I would live to regret that for a very, very long time.

* * *

Donnie and I snuck towards the portal and tried to stay in the shadows while the others were distracting the Kraang. I saw Leo slice through a robot and Casey hit another one in the head, making it fly off the neck like a hockey puck.

I quickly got other things to think of as Donnie and I came up to the portal.

"You know what to do to fix this, right, Donnie?" Donnie nodded and opened up a hatch that revealed a bunch of wires and started to pull at a few of them.

"Don't worry, April, I've done this before, remember? All I have to do is reverse the polarity and then-" Suddenly a Kraang-droid fired at Donnie's head, and he barely had time to dodge. Unfortunately the laser bullet hit the box filled with wires. The portal began to spark and purple light started to glow around the entire machinery. The other guys and Kraang-bots stopped their fighting and looked up at the portal, for a moment forgetting about the enemy. Donnie looked at the wires, which were now fried, then grabbed my wrist, pulled me over to them and tied us both to the portal while crying out to the others.

"Everybody, hang on to something!" He yelled loudly, just as the portal started to suck up everything in the room. Donnie and I felt the wires tighten around us as the portal tried to suck us both in. Leo grabbed onto some debris that was stuck between two big rocks and held onto Mikey's arm to keep both of them from flying through purple vortex, while Raph dragged himself and Casey behind the same debris and clung onto it for dear life.

"What's going on, Donnie?! Why is the portal sucking in everything like a tornado?!" Mikey yelled as loudly as he could to be heard over the winds at Donnie, who clung onto the portal's metal beams.

"I- I don't know! The Kraang fired at the wires and I think it's causing the portal to malfunction and suck everything back into some other planet or galaxy! But I'm not entirely sure!" Leo held Mikey as close to himself as possible while he clung to a pipe in the pile of debris. He looked over at me and Donnie.

"Do you think you can shut it down, Don?" I heard Donnie laugh to himself before he answered.

"You're kidding, right? The portal is out of control right now, there's nothing I can do to stop it now!" Raph groaned loudly and I heard Casey yell back to Donnie.

"That's just great, Donnie! Can this possibly get any worse?!" Just as he said that, I heard a snap and looked down at the wires. I saw that one of the wires that Donnie had tied around his waist had started to break. Donnie saw this as well and clung to the metal beams even tighter.

"Donnie, grab my hand!" I cried out and reached for him. Donnie looked at me, stretched out his hand and grabbed mine just as the last wire snapped and I was yanked forward. I painfully felt the wires around my waist tighten at the added weight. The others cried out in fear and panic when they saw what happened, and I heard Leo cry out in terror.

"Donnie, do not let go!" Donnie looked over his shoulders and glared at Leo while trying to hold onto my hand.

"Why in the world would I _let go_?!" I grabbed Donnie's hand with both of mine and tried to pull him back to safety; I barely managed to move him an inch, the power of the vortex was too strong. Raph and Mikey also looked at us and looked like they were about to run forward and save him, if they could.

"Leo, we have to do something! We have to save him!" Mikey called out to Leo, who looked down at him with equal fear.

"Yeah, I know! But we can't, we'll get pulled into the portal, too!" Raph growled at Leo, was about to yell at him but he saw something, pointed with a panic-stricken expression and cried out to Donnie.

"Donnie, look out!" Donnie and I looked up to see a Kraang-droid flying towards us with his gun pointed at us, and before we could react, the robot fired his gun and hit Donnie straight in the chest. Donnie yelled out in pain before he lost his grip on my hand and tumbled into the portal with a scream of terror.

" _DONNIE_!" Leo screamed, joined by Raph and Mikey. I reached to try and grab his hands again but they were just out of my reach.

"NO! GUYS! _HELP ME_!" Donnie cried out in fear. He flailed his arms around to try and grab onto anything so he could save himself, but couldn't find anything within his reach.

"DONNIE!" Raph cried and reached out his hand for him, even though he must've known it was too late. Then the Kraang fired again and hit Donnie in the head, making him scream in pain before he lost consciousness, just before he was sucked in through the portal. As soon as he was out of sight, the portal closed and we all fell to the ground. Leo got up first, ran to the portal and looked through it, even though it was closed and the only thing we could see was another sewer tunnel.

" _DONNIE_!" Leo looked frantically through the tunnel as if he could find his brother in there. "No! _NO_! DONNIE! Donnie, please, can you hear me? Where are you?!" Raph and Mikey ran up behind him and looked through the tunnel, even though there was nothing to see other than a few frightened rats and filthy wrappers. I cut through the wires with my Tessen and ran up to the others, along with Casey not far behind.

Mikey fell to his knees, buried his face in his hands and started to cry loudly. I knelt down beside him and placed both hands on his shoulders to try and console him. Leo placed his hands over his face and I could hear him crying, too, though not as loudly as Mikey, and he soon fell to his knees as well. Casey tried to place his hand on Raph's shoulder, but he slapped his hand away, saying nothing. His breathing was heavy, his eyes were frantic, his body tense, and I could hear him mutter to himself.

"Donnie, no..." His breathing quickened, he clenched his fists tightly and then he threw his head back and cried out so loudly that his voice echoed throughout the entire sewer system of New York City.

" _NOOO_!"

* * *

The sky was dark, and the night was cold. The military forces had been patrolling all day and it was getting harder to hide from them. I had been hiding up in my cave for quite a few days now and the shields I had programmed for protection were starting to wear thin. I had very little technology to work with, here in my cave.

Suddenly a bright light shone in the sky, disappearing just as quickly. The rational person inside me told me to stay in my cave and stay safe. But the scientist in me told me to go and explore what had happened. That side eventually won and I quickly ran out of the cave and towards the woods. What I saw was not what I expected.

In a clearing I saw a big terrapin creature laying in the dry grass beside a broken robot and some sort of alien squid that crawled away, squealing in pain and anger. I knelt down beside the terrapin and looked him over. He had a big wound on the side of his head and another wound on his plastron, and he was very much unconscious. His face was scrunched up in pain and his breathing was shallow.

I felt bad for this poor and wounded creature and thought over whether I should help him or not. I was a fugitive and I would most likely be hunted the very next day, and who knows? This creature might be even more dangerous than my current enemies. But I couldn't just leave him like this. He would die if I did. I made up my mind, lifted the creature and held him bridal style, and hurried back to my cave to take care of his wounds.

* * *

 **A/N: Done! Can you guess who that unknown character in the end was? If you have any guess, please do share in your reviews!**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	4. Chapter 3, The Fugitoid

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Hi, again! Here I come with a new chapter and a new character! It's time to introduce the new character, (sort of) Professor Zayton Honeycutt, A.K.A the Fugitiod from the comic and the 2003 cartoon! And yes, I did get a lot of ideas and inspiration from a few TMNT movies, most notably Turtles in Space and Space Invaders, but don't worry, I have a few ideas of my own, so it won't be identical!**

 **Hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

* * *

Chapter 3, The Fugitoid

Donnie was gone! I couldn't believe it, my brother was gone! I felt the stream of tears coming out of my eyes start to fall on my legs, arms and feet, but I couldn't care less about that right now. April had her hands on my shoulders and tried to comfort me, but she was crying too, so it didn't help very much, even though I appreciated her effort. Leo also had tears running down his cheeks, but he wasn't crying as much as I was. And Raph, he had completely lost it! He had pulled out his sai and was attacking the portal, screaming and yelling like a maniac.

"This _can't_ be real! Donnie! Answer me, damnit! _DONNIE_!" Leo dried his eyes, walked up to Raph and tried to place his hand on Raph's shoulder and pull him away from the portal.

"Raph, that's enough! Enough!" But Raph just shoved him away and for a moment I thought he was gonna attack Leo out of anger and grief. Thankfully he didn't, but he still had the crazy look in his eyes. I stood up, ran up to Raph and before he or anyone could do anything to stop me, I threw my arms around Raph's neck and hugged him tightly so he couldn't shove me away. But just as I hugged him, Raph's body went limp and his arms fell to his sides and the sai fell to the ground with a _klang_. I leaned my head close to his ear and nuzzled his head with my cheek.

"Raphie, stop doing that, it won't bring Donnie back. You know that, bro." Raph didn't speak any answer, but he nodded slowly, buried his face in my shoulder, and placed his arms around my shell. I felt as well as heard him start to cry. Leo walked up to us, placed his arms around the both of us and placed his head close to mine, crying into my mask. Normally I would've complained, but right now we all needed the comfort from each other. In the corner of my eyes I saw that April was hugging Casey, crying, and he had dropped his bag of weapons. After about five minutes, we all pulled away from each other and Raph dried his eyes with his arms, sniffling a little. Leo dried his cheeks with both hands and I just allowed the few tears I had left to fall. April approached Leo and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Leo? Are- are you okay?" Leo took a deep, shaky breath and then shook his head.

"No, no, I'm not! I mean, I feel a little better, but I feel awful! How can I not? My brother's gone and who knows where he is now?! How can I feel okay or good in any way?" I placed my hand in Leo's and rested my head on his shoulder. He looked down at me, placed his arms around me and hugged me close once more. Casey placed his hand on Raph's shoulder, but Raph just slapped it away and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Raph, you don't have to act all tough right now, we're all friends here and we're all sad about what happened-" Raph glared at Casey with furious eyes and shoved his face up in Casey's.

"No, you're not! I bet you're happy about this! I bet you're overjoyed about Donnie being gone, 'cause now you can have April all to yourself, right? You scumbag!" Raph gathered up his sai, put them back in his belt and ran out of the Kraang lair.

"Raph!" Leo called out after him, but Raph just ignored him and ran out into the sewers. Leo and I looked each other in the eyes, nodded and looked over at our distraught human friends.

"Guys, if you don't mind, could you maybe leave us alone for the rest of the night? I have a feeling we have a lot to talk about at home with Master Splinter. Family business." April nodded understandingly, grabbed Casey's arm, and started their search for the nearest manhole.

Leo and I started to run after Raph, who- no doubt- had gone topside. We found him surprisingly quickly, on top of the Byerly Building. He sat on the edge of the building, one leg dangling over the street and the other pulled close to his chest, his chin on his knee. We quietly sat down beside him without saying anything and decided to let him acknowledge us first before we said anything. It took a while, but after a few minutes of waiting, Raph sighed, placed his arm on his knee and buried his eyes in his arm.

"I feel like a grade-A jerk!" Leo slowly placed his arm around Raph's shoulders and hugged him close. And, for once, Raph didn't try to shake Leo off; just leaned into his embrace.

"Yeah, I do, too. I should've been able to help him from being pulled into that portal and not just stay where I was." Raph shook his head, looked up at Leo with tear-filled eyes.

"No! Not like that! Didn't you hear what I said back at the lair?! I said he did nothing but mess up and blamed him for not being on our side! What kind of brother says that? What kind of brother am I?" His voice had started to crack as more tears fell from his eyes and he tried to dry them away, to no avail. Leo nodded, hugged Raph a little tighter and I saw a few tears fall from his eyes too.

"Yeah, I know. I feel awful about what I said, too. I didn't even try to listen to him, I just shot him down like he had nothing to say. We all acted like jerks." I shook my head violently and pointed at myself.

"Not me! I didn't say anything mean to him!" Leo and Raph looked at me, as if they had, for a moment, forgotten I was there. Then they looked at each other and back at me again.

"Okay, Raph and I were jerks. But still, Donnie was trying to talk to us, and we didn't listen. If we hadn't argued like we did before, maybe we wouldn't be in this mess. Things might've turned out differently." We all nodded and sat there for a while. After what I guess was about half an hour, Leo stood up and stretched out his hands for us to take.

"Come on, we have to go home and tell Master Splinter what happened."

* * *

Pain. That was the first thing I felt when I came to. My head was killing me and I had a hard time breathing because of a sharp pain in my chest. I opened my eyes, and then immediately closed them again because of the bright light that attacked my eyeballs. I slowly tried to pry them open once again and this time I managed to fully open them without having to slam them immediately shut. I was lying on a thin mattress, under a thin blanket and with a wrapped chest and head. Other than that, I noticed no other injuries on myself.

My vision was a bit blurry, but after a few seconds I could see clearly and looked around the room I was in. It wasn't that big. In one corner there were a few machines and tools that I assumed to be lab equipment. But it wasn't any equipment that I recognised. There were a few computers and a few cords that looked like they were meant for charging, but I wasn't entirely sure. I sat up and looked around further to try and see if there was anyone here too, but the room was empty. I slowly got up from the mattress, stood up on shaky legs and started to look around the room, which I now saw was some sort of red cave. I walked up to the equipment, picked up something that looked like a pincer.

"Whoever lives here must be good with technology." I mumbled to myself and looked over the computers. There were a few papers filled with notes, but it was all written in some unknown language that made Japanese and Chinese look like first grade english.

"Where the heck am I? Some other country?" I mumbled as I looked through the notes and tried to spot anything that could tell me more about where I was.

"Oh, you are awake? That's good, I was just about to wake you." I jumped at the sudden voice, looked towards the entrance and out of instinct reached for my bō staff. But when I felt nothing but thin air I realized that it was gone. At the entrance of the cave was... a robot.

It was a tall robot (taller than me) with a head shaped like a football, big, black eyes with small orange lights that resembled pupils, a thick mouth that glowed orange every time he spoke, thin upper arms and legs, but big feet, underarms and chest, and three thin fingers on each hand. He spoke with a thick british accent. I didn't know why I was afraid of him, he looked relatively harmless, but I was in a different location now and for all I knew that could be intentional. I backed away from the tables with the notes and slowly put up my arms in a defensive position, so that I could fight if I had to.

"Who are you, where am I, and how did I get here?" The robot walked up to me, slowly, and held up his hands in a 'calm down, I mean no harm' way; slowly he pushed my arms down again.

"Calm down, son. I mean you no harm. My name is Professor Zayton Honeycutt, but you will most likely hear people call me 'The Fugitoid'. Call me whatever suits you." I took a few deep breaths to calm down and looked the robot in its blinking orange eyes.

"Fugitoid? What the heck's a fugitoid?" The Fugitoid, or Professor Honeycutt, or whatever his name was, sorted through the notes I had looked through and put them away before he looked back at me again.

"Well, I suppose you can say it's a bit of a nickname, of sorts. As you can see, I am a robot, or an android. And I am also a bit of a fugitive. And there came the name Fugitoid. And I guess it stuck with the Federation and other aliens." At first I didn't really get it. I had to think it over a little.

"Fugitive... Android... Fugitoid... Fugitoid... Oh, I get it! Ooh, it's like one of those horrible wordplays Mikey does when he comes up with villain names!" Honeycutt looked at me like I was crazy, but then his words hit me like a truck filled with bricks. 'Other Aliens?' I grabbed him by his metal shoulders and pulled him closer to my face.

"Wait a minute, what do you mean, ' _other_ aliens'? Where am I?!" Honeycutt yelped a little when I grabbed him, but he calmly removed my hands from his shoulders and answered me with a calm, gentle voice.

"Well, I don't mean to startle or worry you, since I don't know where you come from, but right now you're in the Sidayom System on the planet D'hoonib, about a mile away from the city Peblak. Federation Territory, in other words." What...? A different planet? A different part of the galaxy?! My brothers were back on Earth, and I was here! More than a million miles away from home! My head started to spin and I started to feel lightheaded, like I was going to faint any second. I placed my hand on my aching head and closed my eyes to try and get rid of the dizzy spell.

"I... I think I need to sit down." I felt a cold metal hand grab my arm and lead me over to a stool, helping me to sit down. He then raised his hand to rest on my shoulder.

"I will go and fetch you some water, would that be good for you?" I nodded and heard footsteps lead away from me and out of the cave. He came back after only a few seconds and then he put a wooden bowl in my hand.

"Drink, my boy. I will explain to you what I know about how you came to this planet." I sipped a little on the water, and though it tasted a little mucky, it was still drinkable. And the professor did explain, how he had seen a light in the sky last night and had gone to investigate, how he had found me out cold and injured alongside a Kraang-droid and had brought me back here to his cave to tend to my injuries despite the dangers of being out at night. I slowly drank up the last of the water, put the bowl down on the desk and looked the robot in the eyes.

"So, even though it was dangerous, you got out of this cave and then saved my life? I suppose I can trust you if you're willing to do that. So thank you." He nodded.

"Oh, it was nothing. I had to help you, you wouldn't have survived if I hadn't. But I must ask, where do you come from?" I swallowed down a lump in my throat when I thought about my home. My brothers, April, Casey. Were they alright? I sighed and looked down at the floor.

"I come from a planet called Earth; it's a small, green and blue planet far away from here. At least, I assume it's far away from here. But, what's your story? How come you're a fugitive and have to live in this cave?" Honeycutt sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

"Oh, well, I suppose I should explain it to you. I owe you that much. You see, I used to be a brilliant scientist here on D'hoonib. In fact, I was the most brilliant scientist on this planet. A while back, I designed a device I call 'The Teleportal', a device that can transport any thing or being from one place to another. But my founder, General Blanque, had other ideas. See, he wants me to build the Teleportal so he can use it as a weapon for war, death and destruction. So I, of course, refused to build it." He sighed heavily, as if the next part was hard to talk about.

"But after an accident with one of the help-robots, when lightning struck the building and the machine's wiring got fried, my body got vaporised and my mind got transferred into the robot. And when General Blanque found out about that, he was overjoyed. See, on this planet, Robots have no rights and can be dealt with as those in charge of us please. So the Teleportal that I wouldn't build him when I was human, he could steal from my brain now that I was a robot. I have been hiding up in this cave for almost a week now. It's only a matter of time before they find me." As his story concluded, I started to sympathise with this man. He was on the run because people couldn't take no for an answer. Sounded like someone I had met before.

"Oh, I'm so sorry for you. But why don't you just leave this planet? I mean, you have the technology to travel to other planets, right?" He nodded, sat down on another stool and sighed heavily.

"Yes, I would leave this planet if I could. But, see, I have put up these protecting, let's call them firewalls, around this cave so they won't be able to track me. The moment I leave, I fear they will find me. And then they will capture me and bring me to General Blanque." I placed my fingers on my chin and thought over our options. I was intelligent, sure, but this was a _new_ planet with _new_ technology so it would take a while before I could master that. But I was still a highly trained ninja, so maybe I could help him. If we got away from here, maybe he could build that Teleportal, and then we could both be teleported away from the Federation. He could get away from this planet, and I could go home. It was a win-win! I nodded to myself and turned back to Honeycutt, who was putting away the bowl I had been drinking out of.

"Professor, if you did get off this planet, do you think you could build your Teleportal?" He looked back at me, put the bowl down and tilted his head to the side a little.

"I suppose I could do that. If I got enough distance between myself and the Federation Squads, that is. Why do you ask?" I stood up, walked over to him and placed my hand on his shoulder.

"Well, you see, I am a highly trained ninja; a warrior of sorts on my own planet. And I may be able to hold off the Federation Squads, should they catch up with us. If I help you get off this planet, will you help me find my way back to my home planet? Is that a fair deal?" Honeycutt thought it over for a few seconds, looked me up and down, then nodded.

"It sounds fair enough, and I really do want to get away from here. But what of your injuries? Will you be able to fight? I wouldn't want you to get hurt because of me." I gently placed my hand on the injuries. They still ached, though not as much as they had when I woke up. And when I breathed my chest didn't hurt, either. I just shrugged and tore off the bandages. There were some small bruises on my head and chest, but nothing too serious.

"I've had worse. I'll be fine, and as long as those Federation guys aren't too good fighters, I'll be okay. So, do we have a deal or what?" I reached out my hand for him to shake. He looked down at my hand, then at me and reached out his hand and grabbed mine.

"It is a deal."

* * *

 **A/N: Chapter delivered! Hope you liked Honeycutt in this chapter. I know that his backstory is very similar to the one in the 2k3 show, but I didn't know any other backstory I could borrow from, and besides I like that 2k3 backstory. Hope it was good enough for you, and you know what? There'll be even more 2k3 characters coming down this road! I hope you like that show!**

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter and please, review favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	5. Chapter 4, Sneaking towards the city

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: It's new chapter time again! I'm sorry for taking so long to update this time, but I've had a bit of writer's block, and I've also been a bit busy the last few days! And I have some news for you! I have gone back to school now, so I may not be able to update as often as I have lately, just as a heads up. But I will try to update as often as I can, and I am free on Fridays, so I may be able to update on Fridays and weekends, but I can't make any promises. I'll try my best though.**

 **Hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

* * *

Chapter 4, Sneaking towards the city

We walked through the sewers towards the lair, all of us crying. Raph was trying to hold back his tears the best he could, but they still fell down his cheeks in a small stream, and he was ferociously trying to dry his eyes, to no avail. Mikey wasn't even trying to restrain his tears and he was sobbing loudly like a little child. Usually Raph would tease or ridicule him, but right now he just placed his arm around Mikey's shoulders and hugged him close. And I had a real tough time holding back my own tears. I felt them running down my cheeks but I was still trying to stay strong for my younger brothers and be a strong pillar for them to lean against if they needed it. But I felt my chest and heart ache because I was holding back my sadness and my jaw trembled for the same reasons.

When we entered the lair we saw Splinter coming out of the dojo with a concerned and slightly angry expression on his face. He had probably been waiting for us for a long time now. He didn't look as if he was ready to listen to excuses right that second, and he didn't seem to notice that we had entered the lair with tears in our eyes.

"Where have you boys been?! April called me an hour ago and said that she and Casey had returned home by then. She asked if you were okay, but I didn't know where you were!" We looked at each other, except Mikey- who was still sobbing into Raph's shoulder. Raph and I didn't really know what to say to Master Splinter, but I knew we had to say it. I cleared my throat a little, swallowed hard and blinked to get rid of the tears that still wanted to get out of me. But before I could say anything...

"S-sensei..." Mikey's voice was cracking and actually I was kinda happy for it. Splinter looked up at us and when he saw our faces, he angry frown quickly melted in concern and worry and ran up to us. He placed his hand on Mikey's shoulder, looked him over and then turned to me and Raph.

"Boys, what happened?" He then seemed to think of something, looked at me, then Raph and lastly Mikey, and I could almost hear him count in his head. 'One, two and three.' He turned to me with firm, yet scared, eyes.

"Leonardo, what happened? Where is Donatello?" I took a deep, shaky breath and looked Master Splinter straight in the eyes. I wanted to show the pain through my eyes, but I knew I had to tell him too.

"Sensei, Donnie is... g-gone." Splinter's eyes widened, he grabbed my shoulders and looked me straight in the eyes, and I could see that he was terrified as well as slightly angry.

" _Gone_?! What do you mean, he's gone?" Raph let out a heavy and shaky sigh, pushed past us and sat down on the couch, with Mikey still clinging to his arm, and placed his arm around Mikey's shoulders.

"He was sucked into a Kraang portal, Sensei. One of the Kraang messed up the portal somehow and it backfired. Donnie was shot by one of them and..." Raph paused to take another deep, shaky breath, hugged Mikey a little tighter and closed his eyes tightly, letting his tears squeeze out of his closed eyelids.

"A-and he was sucked through the portal, just before it closed. We couldn't do anything to stop it from happening." Master Splinter paled, stumbled a little and was close to falling to the floor. I grabbed his arms to keep him from falling, led him over to the couch and helped him sit down.

"Donatello... No, my son. My poor, poor boy." I sat down beside him, placed my hand on his shoulder. He, in return, placed his arms around me and hugged me close. Usually I would be shocked since Master Splinter rarely hugged anyone of us, but now I knew that's what he needed, so I hugged him back. Splinter reached out towards Raph and Mikey, who shuffled closer to him, letting our father hold them close.

"Oh, Donnie..." Mikey whimpered into Splinter's fur as he cried. Raph hugged Mikey as well as Splinter, nuzzling his face into the red-brown cloth of Master Splinter's robe. And I leaned my head onto my father's shoulder and tried to stop myself from crying. But I then realized that everybody in the room, even Master Splinter, was crying, so I let go and let myself cry too.

* * *

The next day Professor Honeycutt and I sneaked out of the cave and into the woods. The professor had gone on and on about how dangerous it would be to leave the cave, and that the Federation soldiers were most likely to find us when we came to the city Peblak, about a mile away from his hideout. And while I had listened to what he told me, I tried to keep my confidence and the Professor's spirits strong.

"If that does happen and they do find us, I'm sure I could figure out a way for us to fight them or escape! I'm not just trained as a fighter, I've been trained in stealth and adaptability as well, and I don't mean to brag, but I'm pretty smart, too! We'll be just fine." I sounded cocky, I know. But I also knew that this wasn't Earth, and I had no idea how this city looked, worked or what to expect at all. But I couldn't really say that, right?

We travelled through the woods, kept close to each other and never said a word for the longest time. As we went, I looked around and took it all in. The trees were thick, tall and some of them had, instead of leaves, what looked like mushroom-tops, making them look like giant mushrooms. The grass was a dry red-brown and I felt it prick my feet like needles, it was so brittle. But it was the sky that really caught my attention. It was so dark blue it looked almost black and the million stars sparkled in blue, purple, red and white colors; the planets I could see strayed from blue, green, yellow, orange, red and purple. And some of them were so close they looked bigger than the moon back home on Earth! In fact, I wasn't sure if any of these planets were moons, but I knew it was a possibility. Every now and then there was meteor or an asteroid flying by the planet, making the scene look even more beautiful!

"This sure beats the starry night skies back at home!" I mumbled to myself, and meant it. Say what you will about Earth's night skies, but there was rarely anything to see other than stars, a few planets like Venus and Mars and maybe a falling star if you were really lucky. Here, you could see planets much closer and the sight was absolutely breathtaking. Professor Honeycutt looked at me, at the sky and then back at me.

"Mm, yes. It is a beautiful sight, is it not? It is a pity that this planet is as hostile as it is, or I would love to stay here just for the sightseeing alone." I smiled at him and then turned my gaze back toward the sky.

"Oh, I wish my brothers could see this. I bet they'd love it." Just as I had said that I immediately felt a sting of homesickness hit me. I had spent the night with the professor and most of the night I had thought about my brothers, Master Splinter, April and Casey. Were they all alright? Had they been sucked through the portal too but landed someplace else? Did they miss me at all? But then again, if they were all home safe and sound, they were probably happy I was gone. Nobody at home to mess things up, or whine and complain about things. No, they were probably relieved at my indefinite absence.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked back at the professor. He pulled me behind a big rock and placed his finger over his robotic mouth.

"Shh! Federation patrols are heading this way!" He whispered. We stayed behind the rock, as quiet as possible. After a few seconds I heard them, too; voices, yelling and shouting orders, heavy footsteps running this way, and then I saw them. Ten guys, dressed in dark green military overalls, helmets and boots, all carrying guns. What really caught my attention though was the fact that they looked almost exactly like humans! I'm not even kidding, there was little to no difference from these guys and most humans back on Earth! Conclusion? I have no of idea. One of them, who I assumed was their leader, turned to the rest of the men with a serious expression.

"Now, listen up, men! The fugitoid has left its hiding place, and General Blanque says it is around here somewhere! Spread out, look everywhere and find it! It is alone, so it shouldn't hard to find! Locate it, but do not harm it! I repeat, do not harm it!" It? Wow, that was almost worse than being called a freak. At least 'freak' acknowledges that you're a living creature, and not a dead, emotionless tin can.

The soldiers all spread out in the area, and three of the men came towards us. I pushed the Professor further behind the rock and placed my finger over my mouth, silently telling him to be quiet.

I moved closer to the men approaching us, placed my hand on my newly made bō staff, and prepared myself for a battle. Then, when they were only a few feet away from me, I struck. I swung the staff across one of the guys' heads, knocking him immediately unconscious. And just as the other two guys noticed what happened to their comrade, I swiped one of them off his feet, and then kicked him square in the chest, knocking him out as well. But the third one had backed away from the rock, and now he saw me. He turned to the other soldiers. I moved quickly, and before he could yell back to his comrades, I punched him in the back of his head, knocking him out as well. I quickly got behind the rock again and turned to the Professor.

"Are you alright, Professor?" The robot nodded and looked at me with (I guess) surprise and awe. He placed his hand on my shoulder and leaned close to me so I could hear him better.

"I say, however did you learn those marvellous fighting techniques?" I smiled smugly at him with a raised eyebrow, grabbed him arm and removed his hand from my shoulder.

"Oh, believe me, you ain't seen nothing yet! Now come on, we have to keep moving or the other soldiers will find us!" With that said, I pulled the Professor along with me and we ran through the woods, sticking to the shadows and the trees so we would have some place to hide, should something or someone catch onto our trail. Fortunately no one did find us, but we saw soldiers running around in the woods. And whenever they were seen, we jumped in behind some thick trees, under the roots or under big rocks.

"I am impressed, Donatello. It's like you are shadow; you move just like one." I smirked in pride and looked over at the Professor, who was nothing short of impressed.

"That's the idea. I've been trained to stick to the shadows all my life, and also to able to sneak around undetected by anyone. And if you think my stealth is impressive, wait till you see me in a real fight. Now that's a show." I made sure to keep my voice down, but I couldn't help but feel proud. Somebody was _finally_ giving me compliments for something else than my brains! And it wasn't just any kind of compliment; it was a compliment for my ninja skills! I couldn't remember the last time that had happened. I was usually teased or made fun of, since I was the least skilled ninja of the family. It wasn't exactly a secret; everybody knew it, even Master Splinter.

Before I could start thinking about my family even more, I heard my soldiers running by, only a few feet away from our current hiding place. I grabbed the Professor by the arm, dragged him over to a huge tree with big, thick roots and we dove in under them. After a few minutes of no sound except people running, I heard voices.

"It must be around here somewhere! The trackers indicate it is in these woods, so it must be here! Find it, but do not harm it! General Blanque wants it unharmed, so I repeat, do not harm it!" 'Yeah, yeah. Search for him all you want.' I thought to myself. 'You'll never find him anyway.' After another few minutes, we couldn't hear the soldiers anymore so we climbed out from underneath the roots and started to run again.

After about an hour, I saw a big city getting closer as the forest got more and more sparse. I turned to the Professor, who still had a tight grip on my hand, even though I had let go of his arm by now. I guess he still held onto to me so he could keep up with me.

"Is that Peblak, Professor? The city you were talking about?" Professor Honeycutt nodded and pointed towards the city.

"Yes, that is Peblak. Once we get there, we'll have to find a spaceship, or somebody who can get us off the planet. And that means we have to find smugglers. But for now, let us go into the city!" I nodded to him and we started to move down the hills and towards the city.

* * *

 **A/N: Done! I hope the scene with the family grieving wasn't too sappy, but I thought that would be the reaction of a family who's lost a brother and a son. And we see our first glimpse of the Federation. I figured that since they looked like humans in the 2k3 cartoon, I would do the same here.**

 **I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	6. Chapter 5, How do you search a universe?

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: A new chapter! Finally, right? I'm sorry I'm so late with this chapter, but like I said, I'm back in school, I really hope that I can update at least once every week! But I can't make any promises, since I don't know how much homework and tests I will have in the future!**

 **Hope you'll in enjoy the chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 5, How do you search an entire universe?

Well, what can I say about Peblak? In a way, it was similar to New York. There were a lot of, quote-unquote, people, in the city, either working at some store, company or other place of work or just walking around enjoying the life of D'hoonib. Not exactly a good thing, since I was already homesick enough as it was. I couldn't help but feel reminded of home, even though I was trying so hard not to think of it or my family. It was hard. Even though they probably didn't miss me the way that I missed them. 'Cause I did, I missed them so much!

It was nighttime and both the Professor and I were sneaking from building to building and from shadow to shadow, trying not to be seen by the different aliens on the planet, or the Federation soldiers that were running around on every street. If this had been a different situation I would've checked out all the aliens a little more, 'cause they were quite a sight to see. Some were big, some were small. Some had two eyes, some ten, or just one big eye. Some had four arms, or two arms. Some had claws or big teeth and some were pink, blue, green or any color. Basically, you name it, at least one of these aliens had it.

But it was hard to take everything in, all because of those stupid soldiers running around yelling orders, driving in their tanks or just running around looking for the Fugitoid. We were currently hiding in the shadows of a huge building, trying to think of something to do.

"Man, don't these guys have _anything_ better to do? I mean, is every soldier on this planet after you, Professor?" The robot sighed, sat down on the ground and placed his head in both hands.

"Yes, I am afraid so. General Blanque is obsessed with capturing me and finding the blueprints for the teleportal. I am the target of all Federation squads at this time. I don't know how long I will be able to escape them before they catch me." I placed my hand on his shoulder and shook him lightly.

"Hey, don't you worry. We'll get out of here just fine. Like I said, I am a trained warrior and I have taken on aliens, mutants and other ninjas before in my life. We'll be just fine!" The robot couldn't smile, but he looked up at me with the best smile he could manage. I reached out my hand for him to grab and helped him stand up again. I looked out on the street, and tried to spot any soldiers. When I didn't see any, I motioned to the Professor to move forward. And we kept running up the street, keeping close to the shadows.

A new group of soldiers ran by and I pulled the professor behind me and dove in behind a big, metal container in a dark alley. When I checked out from behind the container I saw that they were really close to us now, closer than any other soldiers that we had seen earlier. And only now did I notice something: some of the soldiers had blue skin, pointy ears and different colored hair. Some had blue, green, yellow, black, and a lot more.

Their leader was a tall young woman who looked like she was the same age as Casey (possibly nineteen years old), with long hair with the color of a Raph's mask that reached down to her lower back, some of it tied into two ponytails, and two smaller ponytails at her ears tied together with orange bands. She was slender but it was plain to see she was a warrior with muscle, speed, and agility. She was dressed in tight black leather pants, a black long sleeved shirt, a brown vest and tall, brown leather boots. She had pale blue skin, two darker blue birthmarks on each cheeks that looked like something had scratched her face on each side, a tight black leather necklace and a sword in a strap on her back, kinda like how Leo had his katanas, only it was one and not two swords, and some sort of gun, and something that looked _really_ similar to kunai knives in a belt around her waist. And to top it off, she had a golden crown around her head with a turquoise jewel in the middle of her forehead, so I assumed she was someone with a lot of authority. I turned to the Professor and leaned closer to him so he could hear me.

"Who is that? She seems a little young to be in charge of a group of soldiers, doesn't she?" The Professor leaned closer to me and whispered back in my ear.

"That is Moriah, the oldest daughter of General Blanque. She's his second in command and will some day take his place as leader of this entire planet. She is in charge of a lot of the troops on this planet. She's as dangerous as she is beautiful." I nodded and turned back to Moriah, and looked her over one more time. And I had to admit, in a way, she was beautiful but dangerous, like a lioness, who could tear apart her prey in seconds, but still liked to play with her victims. The perfect combination of beauty, danger and power. She turned to her soldiers with stern green eyes and a playful, kind of scary smirk, kinda like how Karai would smirk at us, only ten times worse.

"So, let me see if I've got this straight. The Fugitoid is somewhere in this city, is trackable, and is a sitting duck seeing how he has no idea how to fight, and you still haven't found anything?!" As she talked her smirk slowly turned into a cold, dark glare and she obviously angry. The soldiers cowered under her death glare, but nodded even so. She narrowed her eyes and placed her hand on her gun. "Now, you listen here, you imbeciles, and you listen good! All the other officers may be just as stupid as the rest of you, but I am not going to let incompetent soldiers work for our General and leader! I do not reward incompetence, and neither does my father, you know that! So if you haven't found anything by the end of the day, I will make sure that you will never be working in any of these troops ever again, or any other kind of work on this planet. Do I make myself clear?" Her voice was calm, cold and dangerous and it was clear she didn't tolerate being talked back to. She wasn't yelling, but her calm voice and dangerous undertones made it sound even scarier, and it was clear that she wasn't joking. She was much scarier than Karai had ever been. The other soldiers seemed to shake in their boots, and one of them, the most brave one out of all them, nodded and gulped loudly.

"Y-y-yes, Princess. We understand perfectly clearly." Moriah, who apparently was a princess of sorts, smirked even more and for a second, I thought she really was a predator. She placed both hands on her sides and pointed up the street.

"Good. Now, go and find the Fugitoid! And I won't accept failure! Find it, now!" I signaled to the Professor to move deeper into the alley, and we started to sneak further into the dark shadows. But suddenly a loud *CRASH* was heard and I turned around in panic. The Professor was lying in a pile of debris that he had fallen over, and was now groaning on the ground. I was about to grab his arm and pull him up and run for it, but then I heard Moriah again.

"What was that sound? It came from the alley, let's check it out!" I paled, they would see us and then we would be dead meat. I looked down at the Professor, up at the rooftops and then towards the sound of footsteps, coming closer and closer to us. I sighed. I didn't have a choice. I had to fight them. I pulled out my bō staff, readied myself and looked down at the professor.

"Professor, get behind me! I'll fight them off, just stay behind me!" I whispered and the robot got to his feet, albeit a little clumsily, and placed himself behind me. The soldiers ran up towards us, but Moriah, who was leading the way, stopped short and stared at me in surprise.

"What the... What kind of alien creature is this? I have never seen anything like it on this planet, or any other..." She seemed to be talking more to herself than anyone else. But then she shook her head sharply, put her stern and serious glare on again and then drew her gun, pointing it at me.

"Never mind! It doesn't matter. Terrapin creature, hand over the Fugitoid, now!" She smirked at me, and said with a bit calmer voice. "And I might spare your life." The way she said that made my skin crawl and I felt a shiver run down my spine. But I shook my head firmly and held my staff tighter.

"If you want him you'll have to got through me first!" Moriah just rolled her eyes at me and placed her gun back in her belt.

"I don't have time for cocky aliens and besides, you're beneath me. Men, de-shell him! Bring me that robot!" The soldiers pulled out their guns and ran up to me, ready to fight. I narrowed my eyes, gripped my bō staff so tightly I'm sure my knuckles would turn white if I wasn't already green, and then ran forward, raising my bō to strike.

* * *

I rubbed my hands over my eyes, trying to wake myself up. I hadn't been able to sleep one bit last night! I had been up all night, thinking about Donnie. I had been a complete douche yesterday, and now I couldn't even say that I was sorry, 'cause he wasn't here! What had happened to him? And where was he? How hard would it be to find him, because Lord knows, I will do whatever it takes to get my brother back! Even if it means searching through every star and every planet in this entire universe. I had sworn it, just when we all went to bed last night.

I walked into the kitchen and saw that Mikey was already there, preparing breakfast. But it wasn't anything special today. He had placed a box of cornflakes on the table, a carton of milk, and bowls and spoons for everybody. I guess he just wasn't in the mood to cook anything today. And I can't really blame him. I mean, he and Donnie were best friends. They had been close ever since we were kids, so to see his best friend and brother being sucked through a portal was probably terrible for him. But then again, it was probably just as hard for every one of us. Mikey looked up at me and tried to smile, but I could see the dark circles under his eyes, indicating that he hadn't slept very well either. His eyes were red and his cheeks were wet, and that told me he had cried not so long ago.

"Hey, bro. Did you sleep well last night?" His voice was thick, and a little shaky. I walked over to the table and sat down. I wanted to comfort him, but I had no idea what to say. I mean, I was working through my own emotions and I wasn't good at keeping myself from lashing out at people if I was in an emotional state, I knew that. Best to say as little as possible, I really didn't want to hurt anyone even more right now. I rested my head in my hand and placed my elbow on the table, and placing the other arm next to it.

"Not for one. Single. Second." Mikey's smile fell immediately and he sat down beside me. He rested his head in his hand and sighed heavily. His eyes watered a little, so he wiped his hand over his eyes to stop the tears from falling.

"Yeah. Me neither. I was asleep for, like, two hours, and then I woke up again. I- I can't stop thinking about him, Raph, I miss him so much. And he hasn't even been gone for a full day yet." His voice was cracking and it was easy to hear he would start to cry any second now. And it wasn't hard to figure out who he meant with 'him' and 'he'. I placed my arm around him and hugged him close. Mikey leaned his head against my shoulder and cried into the crook of my neck.

"I know, Mikey, I know. I miss him too. But don't worry, we're gonna find Donnie and bring him back home again. I don't care if I have to search the entire universe, I'll find him." Mikey looked up at me with wet, wide puppy eyes and tried to smile.

"R-really?" I smiled down at him and was about to say 'really' back to him, but then another voice joined the conversation.

"I wouldn't get my hopes up too high, Mikey. I'm not so sure we _can_ find him." Leo walked into the kitchen, also with bloodshot eyes with dark circles around them. He was a little slumped, like he was exhausted, which he obviously was. I glared up at him. Here I was, trying to cheer up my only little brother that I had left at the moment, and Leo just ruined it.

"Hmph! Aren't _you_ just a little ray of sunshine, bro? Well, if you wanna be pessimistic and think everything is hopeless, then please, be my guest. But as for the rest of us, we wanna be _optimistic_ and think positive. We can find him, I know we can!" Leo shook his head and sat down on the other side of Mikey.

"I'm not trying to be pessimistic, I'm trying to be _realistic_ , Raph. I mean, think about it. Donnie was thrown into a Kraang portal! He could be anywhere in this galaxy; on a different planet or even in a different galaxy! Even a different dimension! I'm sorry, but I think it's impossible to find him." I growled, gently let go of Mikey and slammed both hands in the table.

"So you're saying that we should just forget about Donnie and act as if he's dead, when he may be alive out there somewhere, needing us to save him?! He's our brother, Leo, we can't abandon him!" Leo looked annoyed, tired, and I could see that he didn't have the energy to be patient. But he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and then looked me in the eyes again.

"Raph, please, try to see reason. I mean, let's say that Donnie is alive and on a different planet in this galaxy. Do you know how big this galaxy is, let alone the universe? How do you search an _entire_ galaxy, or universe for that matter?" I cracked my knuckles and narrowed my eyes.

"One star at a time." Leo rolled his eyes, leaned over the table and placed his hand on my shoulder, trying to look sympathetic.

"Raph, think of it this way. In our solar system alone there's only one planet where life is possible. And we live on it. Out of all the planets in the galaxy, how many do you think there's other creatures living, or breathing oxygen for that matter? And don't get me started on all the planets in the entire universe, or even dimensions! Heck, he could be in Dimension X, and then he'd be dead by now. And as for searching for him, there's millions and billions of planets, stars, asteroids, meteors, black holes, nebulas and so much more in the universe, and in order for us to be able to search through every single one of them, we'd have to be immortal. I'm sorry Raph, but it's just impossible." I couldn't think of anything to say. I knew it was true. There were people who thought that the universe was never-ending, and for us to search through all of the empty space, the planets, the stars and everything, would be impossible. But I just didn't want to accept it. My anger faded away and tears started to form in my eyes.

"... B-but what if he's hurt? What if he's in some kind of danger, or injured or something? What if..." I had to take a breath, but it was a shaky one and I had to fight the urge to cry. "What if we'll _never_ see him again?" My voice was cracking and I felt the tears running down my cheeks. My first instinct was to dry my eyes and cheeks to get rid of the tears, but when I looked up and saw Leo and Mikey had also started to cry, and Leo wasn't even trying to fight it, I decided to let myself cry. Mikey, who sat in between Leo and me, reached out both arms towards us and hugged us, and we were both quick to return the hug. The breakfast hadn't even been touched, but I think we all could agree on the fact that no one wanted to eat anything.

"So... What do we do now? I mean, now with Donnie..." He couldn't finish that sentence, but we still understood what he tried to say. 'Now that Donnie's gone.' Leo shrugged and dried his eyes, or at least tried to since more tears kept on coming.

"Try to move on, I guess. Donnie wouldn't have wanted us to stop fighting evil just because he was gone or out of commission. He would want us to keep fighting, even if it's hard to move on." I nodded and reached out my hand.

"Yeah, we'll keep fighting. For Donnie." Mikey and Leo looked down at my hand, then at me and then smiled and placed their hands on mine.

"For Donnie!"

* * *

 **A/N: Ooh, so much happening! So much drama, suspense and feels! So, for those who don't know, Moriah was a character from the 2k3 TMNT series, and only appeared in the episode 'The People's Choice' in season 4. So I decided to put her in my story, and give her my own spin on the character. And that's not the only character I'll bring back and put my own spin on! And if you want, you can guess in the reviews! Which characters do you think will appear in the story? Tell me your thoughts in your reviews, I'd love to know!**

 **As for the brothers grieving over their loss, I hope that I didn't write any of them out of character! I just thought that Raph would want to find Donnie and bring him home no matter what he'd have to do, and that Leo would try to be the voice of reason and tell the others the hard truth, even if it's not something you want to hear. As for Mikey not doing so much in this chapter, I thought that he would react this way, being quiet, a bit extra sensitive and also wanting and needing some support from his older brothers. (Sorry for not making Splinter appear, but he'll appear soon!)**

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	7. Chapter 6, Fugitives on the run

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Hi! I was a bit faster with an update this time, but this time it's much longer! Hope that makes up for the fact that I was late with the last one.**

 **And yes, I know I said in the last chapter that Moriah had a bow and arrows and not a sword, but I decided to change that, because I don't think that bows and arrows are that affective in a fight on a technologically advanced planet. And heads up, for a few new characters that will appear in this chapter, maybe as a cameo or maybe with a speaking and active role. Maybe a few from the 2k3 series.**

 **Hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 6, Fugitives on the run

I barely had time to think up a strategy before the first man raised his gun and pointed it at me. I gripped my staff tighter in my hands and swung it across the man's weapon making him immediately drop it. He was so flabbergasted he didn't even think of defending himself and I knocked him across the head with my bo and he fell to the ground, unconscious. The very next second a bunch of new soldiers started to fire at me. I heard the Professor yelp and saw in the corner of my eye that he was hiding behind the container again. I had to keep an eye on that container and not let anyone sneak up to it and grab the Professor. I felt the laser bullets fly by me, kinda like the Kraang's bullets, so it was easy to dodge them and get up close to the soldiers without being hit.

The soldiers were surprised to see me move the way I did. I flipped over the bullets, knocked away another gun and kicked the soldier into a brick wall, hit one soldier over the head and watched him drop to the ground. One soldier had pulled out a long army knife and was about to slice me in the throat. Or so he thought, anyway. I caught the knife with my bo, the edge getting caught in the wood and startling the man in front of me. I took perfect advantage of that, hit the guy in the head with one end of the staff and then planted a kick in his stomach. He fell to the ground, groaning in pain, but I barely had any time to care more about him, as the remaining soldiers started to fire at me again. I quickly dodged the bullets, knocked one of them off his feet with low sweep kick and then punched him straight in the nose. I felt the bone break, and I shuddered slightly at the thought, but then got other things to think of as the second soldier tried to hit me in the head with his gun. I caught it with ease and yanked it away from him, much to his surprise.

"Didn't your mom ever teach you now to play with these kinds of toys? You could seriously hurt somebody!" I smirked before I swung the gun at his head and knocked him to the ground as well. Only now did I notice that only one soldier was standing, and as he stood there I could see that he was a little scared. I smirked at him, aiming the gun at his head.

"Well, nighty-night, soldier-boy." I'm sure he thought I was gonna shoot him, but instead, with lightning speed, I knocked him over the head with it and he fell to the ground just like his pals had done. I looked out over the soldiers and I had to admit, I felt a little surprised at how easy these guys were to beat. Easier than the foot-bots or the Kraang droids. I put my bo staff back in the strap on my back and smiled proudly. Even if they were easy to beat, I wish my brothers could've been here to see me beat all these guys on my own.

"Hold that pose, you freak!" I looked up at Moriah, whom I had completely forgotten about during the fight with her soldiers. She had stretched out her arm out towards me and pushed a button on something that looked like a digital wristwatch and a blue, blinding light shot out at me; it kinda reminded me of Metalhead's scanner. It scanned through me from the left, then back to the right again and then it disappeared back into the wristband again. Moriah smirked, pushed another button and then drew her sword.

"Know this, you freak: by the end of the day you'll be a fugitive all over the planet. I have your picture, your DNA, and everything I need to know about you in my scanner. But, if you hand over the robot, I'll let you go free." I paled. If my face was shown all over the planet as a fugitive, a criminal, it would be even harder to get off the planet. But I couldn't give up the Professor. He was my friend. And he had saved my life, even if he didn't have to. No, I couldn't give him to Moriah. I drew my bo again and got ready to fight her.

"No way! I told you, if you want him, you'll have to go through me first! You want him, come and get him!" It seemed like Moriah wasn't used to being talked back to, because her confidant smirk faded away into a confused frown, which she quickly shook off and tightened her hold of her sword.

"Well then, I hope you'll savor these minutes, because they'll be your last minutes alive!" Wow, even with that cliché line she managed to sound scary. I gripped my staff tighter and we just stood there for a while, looking each other straight in the eyes, ready to strike, each in a fighting pose. Moriah made the first move. She raised the sword and swung it at my head. I was quick to block it, but I could feel the staff shudder as the edge of the sword hit the wood. She was strong, that's for sure. She immediately tried to strike again, but I blocked again, and this time I tried to hit her. I tried to hit her in the head, like I had done with her soldiers, but she was better trained than them. She saw the hit coming and blocked it with ease, kicking me right in the stomach!

"Oof!" I stumbled back and had to take a second to breathe. I saw her coming towards me with a raised sword, so I went down to the ground and performed a low sweep kick again, which made her fall to the ground with a thud. She quickly got up though, and now she looked pretty angry. I tried again to attack before she recovered enough to lift her sword again, and lifted my leg in a roundhouse kick, aiming for her shoulder. But she did a handspring away from me and let one of her hands drop from the sword and aimed a punch at my jaw. Thankfully I managed to catch her wrist, twist it and push it up against her back. I placed my other hand on her shoulder, pushed her down on her knees and tightened my grip on her wrist. She grunted in pain, dropped her sword and her face scrunched up, showing clear signs of pain.

Then she pulled her head forward and slammed the back of her head against my face, and before I could stop myself I cried out in pain and let go of her wrist and shoulder. She quickly grabbed her sword and swung at my face. And this time she managed to cut my cheek, leaving a laceration about as long as my thumb. She tried to swing again, but I managed to dodge before she could cut me again. I had dropped my bo on the ground when I had grabbed her and pushed her down on the ground before, but now I bent down, grabbed it and quickly put in front of me to block Moriah's next swing. This time when the sword got stuck in the wood, I yanked the sword out of her hands and threw it across the alley and I heard a 'clang' when the sword hit first the wall and then the ground.

Moriah got a little surprised when the sword was yanked out of her hands, but she didn't lose her head; she grabbed the gun in her belt and threw her 'kunai' knives at me to distract me while she drew the gun. I twirled my staff around, and the knives flew around me and then fell to the ground. I threw out my staff, making it look like I was trying to hit her in the head, and when she tried to dodge the attack, I knocked the gun out of her hands and kicked it away from her so she couldn't grab it again.

Moriah looked a little flabbergasted at the fact that I seemed to have the upper hand now, but she kept going. She lifted her leg for a high kick, but I went down to the ground and managed to sweep her over her feet, making her fall to the ground once again with a yell of pain. Before she could get up again, I flew on top of her and placed my bo against her throat so she couldn't, ending our fight. Moriah panted heavily, looked up at me in anger and surprise and squirmed to try and get away from me.

"Get off of me, you freak!" Hm, wonderful. Even on a planet filled with strange and different creatures and aliens, I was still considered a freak. Some things never change, do they? I placed the bo a little bit closer to her throat, making it harder for her to breathe.

"What use do you have of the teleportal? Why do you need it so much that you have to attack people and have soldiers out 24/7 to get it?" Moriah's eyes narrowed and she managed to headbutt me again, got to her feet, grabbed her weapons and ran for it. But she stopped on the street and turned back to me. She placed her hand on her hip and smirked lightly.

"That's for us to know, and you to find out! But, I hope I'll see you around some more. I'll be looking forward to a rematch." Then she ran up the street and disappeared. I looked after her and tried to catch my breath. I had won the match, sort of. She had managed to escape, but I had defeated her. Oh, how I wish that my brothers could've seen that! I turned towards the container.

"Professor? Professor, are you there? Are you alright?" The robot looked up from behind the container and up at me. I reached out my hand for him to grab and then helped him to his feet again. He placed his hand on my back and looked down on me with the best smile he could give.

"Oh my word, Donatello. That was fantastic! I have never seen anyone fight like that before, and you stood up against Moriah, one the best warriors on the planet! I have to say, Donatello, I am impressed!" I beamed with pride and a blush spread across my cheeks. Like I said, it wasn't often I got compliments for being a skilled fighter, so it was nice to hear. I shrugged and tried to wave it off. I was modest by nature.

"Hehe, gosh, it was nothing, really. I've just been trained by the right teacher." Just as I had said that I regretted it. Not that it wasn't true, but now that I had said it, I immediately started to miss Master Splinter. How had he taken the news of my disappearance? He had already lost a child before, how would he take it to lose another one? I shook it off and grabbed the Professor's arm, dragging him along.

"Come on! We have to keep moving before a new group of soldiers finds us!"

* * *

The walk towards the room where my father currently was felt like it took forever. For one kind of obvious reason, the room was in the other end of the big house so it took a while to walk there from the entrance. And second, I wasn't that happy about telling him what I had to say. That I had been so close to capturing the Fugitoid and bring it to him, but I lost to a lower-class alien freak! He was a skilled warrior, I'll give him that, but still. That I had lost to an alien and also been kicked to the ground! I would have to train harder and bring more weapons for the next time we found him.

There were two soldiers standing outside of the door to the Control Room, where everybody inside checked their computers to find the Fugitoid. My father was usually there, watching over their work so he could easily give orders to the troops, should he have to. And more often than not, he did. The soldiers bowed to me and lowered their guns as a sign of respect.

"Princess Moriah." I nodded to them and walked inside. I know the whole 'princess' thing wasn't an official title, with Father being a general and not a king, but the title was more out of respect than anything else, and it still felt good to hear the word Princess in front of my name. As I entered to room I saw that Father was angry, making me less than happy about telling him the news I had to give him. He was standing up and yelling at a woman with green hair and normal human skin color.

"You _still_ haven't found anything yet?! You stupid woman, how hard is it to track down one damned fugitoid and capture it?" General Blanque was a tall, muscular man and had red hair and green eyes, just like me. He had a jacket, in the same brown color that I had on my vest and the Federation symbol on the right side of his chest- a picture of D'hoonib with a four-point star all over it, and black pants. He had a scar over his left eye and his hands were also scarred from years of fighting in the field, meaning that many aliens and even Federation Soldiers were scared of him. And right now he held that poor woman in a tight grip, shaking her roughly.

"Now you listen here, you foolish girl: if you haven't found anything by the end of the day, I will make sure that you'll never-!" I rolled my eyes, this conversation was heard every single day but he knew he couldn't get rid of his computer experts, since he had no patience when it came to technology. I took a deep breath and walked up to my Father.

"Father." He was surprised at being interrupted and when he saw me, he let go of the woman and walked up to me with a smile on his face, but with the scar and his constantly angry eyes made it look pretty scary instead of welcoming. But I was used to it. He placed a strong, scarred hand on my shoulder and looked me straight in the eyes.

"Moriah, my girl. I trust you have some good news for me, for a change." I took a deep breath and looked down at my feet. How was I supposed to give him this news without having him freak out? In the corner of my eye I saw I saw my little sister, Starlee; a young, blue skinned, twelve year old girl with dark purple hair and a tablet in her hands. She had looked up from the tablet though, and I could see that she was listening to the conversation. I wished she could leave, but I knew she wouldn't, so I just looked up at my father again and looked him in the eyes.

"We spotted the Fugitoid at the town square, hiding in the shadows and trying to sneak away from us! We were close to capturing him, but he wasn't alone. He's managed to get some sort of alien freak to protect him! He beat all our soldiers and was close to finishing me! We," I gulped down a lump in my throat, "we lost the Fugitoid." At first, nothing happened. But then I felt a strong hand slap my cheek and I fell to the floor from the force of it. My cheek turned slightly purple, and I felt the taste of blood on my tongue. I had accidentally bit myself.

"You lost it! How could you lose the Fugitoid, Moriah?! Do you know how important it is for our people to get that robot? How much power we could have if we can get our hands on that Teleportal?! And you lost it?!" I sat up, looked up at my father through my long, red bangs- which had fallen in front of my eyes.

"We have never seen a foe like this one! He was not only able to fight, but was also fast, flexible and able to sneak around in the shadows! We couldn't fight him, but we did our best! We'll catch him next time, I know-" Father slammed his hand into the wall and that made me shut up.

"Enough! You know I do not tolerate failure, Moriah! How can I trust you to lead one day if you can't even catch one simple robot when it's right in front of your nose?!" He raised his hand to strike again, and I covered my face with my arm, but a new voice was then heard.

"But it wasn't her fault!" Both my father and I looked up at Starlee, who had now put her tablet down and stood up. She had put it down now, stood up and looked at the General in anger. Had she been any other soldier or computer worker, father would've cut her head off, but she wasn't.

"She was doing her best and was beaten by someone who was more skilled than her and had skills she couldn't see coming! What did you expect her to do? Be invincible?!" I looked over at Starlee and wanted to tell her to stay out of this. This didn't concern her, but my father had a soft spot for her so he lowered his hand and his anger slowly faded away.

"Starlee, you shouldn't mind us and what we talk about. Focus on your work and what you have to do. Leave me to talk to Moriah." Starlee walked up to our father and looked up at him, straight in the eyes.

"Daddy, why do you have to be so tough on her? She's doing her best to please you, but all you do is yell at her. Why? Can't you see that she's trying?" Father sighed heavily, placed his hand over his face and rubbed his forehead with two fingers. I slowly got up from the floor and looked over at Starlee.

"Starlee, stay out of this! Don't you have some work of your own to do, like tracking down that stupid robot?" Father turned to me with angry eyes and raised his hand again, threatening to hit me.

"Moriah, don't talk to your sister that way! Starlee has managed to pinpoint the location of the Fugitoid more than fifteen times today and sent troops there to catch it! And you have only failed in capturing it when it was right in front of you! I am disappointed in you." I lowered my head in shame and looked down at the floor. Starlee, who didn't seem to have heard my scolding, looked at out father, put her things down and walked up to him.

"Daddy, please. She's doing her best. She's been leading the troops well, she's a highly skilled warrior and is the best leader we have except for you. And she always listens to you, obeys you and tries to please you. Can't you cut her some slack, just for once?" I looked over at Starlee and eyed her up and down.

She truly was the beauty of the family. With her long, thick, wavy purple hair that she always had tied in a ponytail, big purple eyes, freckles over her nose and cheeks, she looked really cute, and if it wasn't for those tech-goggles (that she for the moment had pushed up on onto her forehead) and that headset she would be much cuter. But she was still pretty, wore a black t-shirt, a brown vest, skintight black pants and brown boots, (which I guess I should say were the planet's military's colors) and the clothes hugged her slender body just perfectly. And to top it all off, she had a blue jewel around her neck that was our mother's, who she clearly resembled to a T. I could understand why our father always went easy on her and treated her like a princess. He looked down at her, placed his hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eyes.

"Starlee, you have a big heart and a gentle nature, which is something you've gotten from your mother and I love you for it. But this is a time of war and we have to be hard and tough in order for us to win. Failure simply isn't an option. Do you understand me?" Starlee frowned sadly and nodded. I could sympathize with her in a way; she was a smart and gentle soul who had very little experience of how our world worked since she always worked in the lab and computer rooms. For her, it didn't make sense for people to be rude or cruel. I placed my arm around her shoulders and smiled down at her, and then looked up at my father.

"Don't you worry about the alien creature, Father. I have scanned his body and DNA, and have his picture in my scanner. We can put it up on every screen and display in this city! We'll have him captured or at least found any of these days!" He nodded at me and then turned to Starlee.

"Very well. Moriah, go out there and try to find that robot and/or alien! Destroy that terrapin creature for all I care, but if you find the robot, bring it to me alive! Starlee, take her scanner and place this alien creature's face all over the planet! And when you're done, please check in on your sister, will you? She's hasn't been heard of for the entire day. Try to talk some sense into her." We both nodded and I handed over me scanner to my sister and placed my mouth close to her ear, whispering to her.

"Good luck with her, you're gonna need it." Starlee nodded, connected my scanner to her tablet, pressed on a few buttons and then a picture of the strange terrapin creature showed up on every computer screen in the room.

"Done, and ready to be sent out to every screen and display in this city. It'll be out there in five minutes." He nodded and Starlee sent out the picture. And just as she was about to walk out of the room, he placed his hand on her shoulder and tried to look gentle.

"Please, try to make her understand that I'm doing this for her own good." Starlee nodded and walked out of the room with her tablet under her arm.

* * *

I walked up the stairs towards my big sister's room. I was a bit nervous about having to talk to her. Not that she was a bad person, but she did have an attitude. Jhanna was very rebellious, strong-willed and had stubbornness to spare. She was nice to me but she usually snapped at our father and Moriah, for a reason I didn't understand. I guess she didn't agree with their thoughts and ideals.

I walked up to her door, which was guarded by two soldiers with weapons at the ready in case she got out, and gently knocked on the door. There was no response, so I looked up at both the soldiers.

"How's she been today?" One of them lowered his weapon and tried to look kind, but failed since kindness wasn't a common trait among these soldiers.

"She's been really quiet for most of the day, but she won't answer anyone who tries to talk to her." I nodded, walked up to the door and walked in. Jhanna was sitting at the big window with her knees pulled close to her chest and folded arms. Her long blue hair was tied into her usual pigtails and since she sat down, her hair almost touched the floor. She had been armed with her sword, and was looking out over the city.

"Jhanna? Are you okay?" She looked up at me with tired and angry green eyes, and then looked back out over the city. I walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Jhanna, please, can't you try to see that Daddy's only locking you in your room because you never listen to him? It'd be a lot easier for all of us if you would just try to listen to him and see things the way he does." Jhanna glared up at me, shook off my hand and looked me straight in the eyes. She was angry, but not at me.

"See things his way? Are you kidding me? Starlee, look out there! He's leading us into a war, and he'll stop at nothing to get what he wants! Even if it means destroying the planet and everyone who lives here! Can't you see that he's just using you and Moriah to get what he wants?" I backed away from her and pulled my hand to myself. She had quite a temper.

"No, he's not! He loves us, just like Mom does! He wants to keep the planet and us safe from being taken over by other aliens! And the teleportal will help us with that!" Jhanna just rolled her eyes at me and stood up.

"Oh, sure. Tell yourself that all you want, but it's not true! I'm not going to stay here!" She bent down and picked up a bag, swung it onto her back and walked over to the window. I felt my body grow cold, ran over to her and grabbed her arm.

"What?! Leaving? Why? You can't leave, you're my sister and I don't want you to leave!" She looked at me with sympathy and placed both hands on my shoulders, looking me straight in the eyes.

"I'm sorry, Starlee, but I can't live like this anymore. Dad just doesn't understand me, he has Moriah in the palm of his hand and I can't let him take over this planet with me sitting on the sidelines." She then grabbed my hands and leaned down so we were face to face. "And you can come with me! We can live on our own and won't have to care about Dad or anyone else!" Shocked, I pulled my hands away from her and backed away.

"No, no! I can't leave, what about Moriah and Daddy? What'll they do?" Jhanna grabbed my shoulders again, shook me and looked me straight in the eyes.

"Starlee, our mother left the planet long ago, Moriah is obsessed with pleasing Dad and Dad is obsessed with finding the Fugitoid! What do we have left? Come on, Star. We could be happy on our own." I bit my lip, shook my head and backed away again.

"No. I can't. I'm sorry, but I can't." Jhanna nodded slowly, looked down at the floor and then turned back to the window. She opened it and picked up a pair of daggers and climbed out of the window, jabbing the daggers into the stone that made up the walls of our house and pulled up the black scarf tied around her neck, so it covered her mouth.

"Tell the soldiers that you found me gone and that you have no idea where I am. And... Goodbye, little sis." I nodded, dried a tear away from my eye and watched Jhanna climb down the wall. I watched her climb all the way down and run away into the dark, with her bag slung over her shoulder. I closed the window and walked out if the room, telling them that she was gone. And my sadness helped me make the lie more convincing.

* * *

"General Blanque, sir! I swear, we all kept an eye on the door the whole time, but we failed to notice how she did it! We didn't even notice she was gone, we... we!" Daddy rolled his eyes, raised his hand to silence him and put on his stern face again.

"Speak up, soldier! What has happened?" It was clear that he had an idea of what the soldier was about to say, but still wanted to hear him say it. Moriah, who had yet to leave and go to back to her search for the Fugitoid, and I looked at each other with an understanding between us. We both knew what had happened, and it wasn't that surprising that Moriah knew too, without me saying anything. The soldier swallowed loudly and rubbed his neck nervously, while trying not to look at our Father.

"Well, you see, sir... Well um, see your daughter, I mean... Ugh, i-it's Jhanna sir. She's, well she's, managed to escape the house... Again." Fire started to spark in Father's eyes and he slammed his hand into the wall again, leaving a dent.

"What?! Again! Didn't I tell you to keep an eye on her?! Find her immediately, get your troops together and find her! Bring her back home, and keep her here! Lock her in a cell if you have to, but do not let her get out again! You hear me?! FIND HER!"

* * *

 **A/N: Okay, a lot happened in this chapter and I understand if some of you might find it a little rushed. But there was so much I wanted to fit into this chapter, so I might have overlooked a few things. And three characters were introduced, and two of them had a role here. General Blanque I have mentioned before, but Starlee is a less famous character from the less successful season 6 of the 2k3 Cartoon were the turtles are in the future. She's a young, smart and cute character who, I kind of assumed were of the same 'species' as Jhanna and Moriah, so I made the three of them sisters and also to add some drama for the future. And Jhanna will be introduced a bit better in the next chapter!**

 **Hope you liked this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	8. Chapter 7, Meet Jhanna

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Okay... I just watched the TMNT season finale for season 3, and, well, just when I thought that they couldn't out do the season 2 finale, they just... Well, you'll have to check it out for yourself, but all I can say is... OH... MY... GOD! If you haven't seen it, see it! It's up on the internet right now, you can find it on Kisscartoon's website! It's awesome, and you won't regret it!**

 **Now, that that's been said... update time!** **And in this chapter, I will try to give Jhanna a bit more character than in the last chapter. Hope you'll like this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

* * *

Chapter 7, Meet Jhanna

The sun would rise in a few hours, and I felt my eyelids getting heavier and heavier. I hadn't slept in almost a day, and I was also starting to get hungry. The Professor and I had been sneaking around across the town to get to someplace safe without any soldiers spotting us , but that hadn't been easy. Everywhere we turned there was a new group of soldiers, so we had to run in a different direction before they could spot us. At the moment we were hiding in an alley, in the shadows, and trying to come up with a plan.

"Okay, you've lived here longer than I have, obviously, so do you have any idea on how to get off this planet? Can we sneak aboard a space ship or something? Or maybe steal one?" The Professor hummed in thought, tapped his finger against his metal cheek and then looked down at me.

"Well, I'd have to say the best way to get off the planet would be to hide on board a ship or, as some say these day, catch a ride with off-worlders. And to do that, we'd have to find smugglers; thankfully those are not hard to find on this planet. The question, though, is where to look first." I yawned and felt my jawbone crack ever so slightly. I had to shake my head a little to wake myself up, but it didn't help so much. I sat down on the cold pavement and leaned back against the wall of the building behind me. I just had to rest a little. I felt a cold hand on my shoulder, and looked up at the robot, who looked as concerned as he could, you know, with him being a robot. He crouched down beside me, his hand still on my shoulder.

"Are you alright, Donatello? You look a little pale and worn out." I took a deep breath and leaned my head back against the wall. I was so low on energy I was almost sleeping where I sat right now, and I had to pinch myself over and over to keep from nodding off. I looked up at the Professor and rubbed my hand over my eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me, Professor, I'm just really, _really_ tired." I had barely finished that sentence before I heard my stomach growl loudly and hungrily at me, telling me that it wanted me to eat something too. I groaned tiredly and placed my hand over my belly, feeling now just how hungry I really was. I looked up at the robot again, who still looked concerned, and smiled sheepishly.

"Okay, I guess I'm a bit hungry, too. I haven't eaten anything since..." I trailed off. Only now did I realize that I hadn't eaten anything at all since before we went on that patrol to the Kraang portal down in the sewers! That was almost three days ago now! How the heck could I not notice how hungry I was earlier? The Professor didn't eat, for obvious reasons, and I guess I had been in such a state of shock that I hadn't remembered that I needed to eat. Kinda like how I was back at home when I was working on something in my lab. But then my brothers always came in and either brought me food or forced me out of my lab and to the kitchen to eat. But since no one was here to remind me, I just hadn't thought about food. And right now, I was starving! The Professor walked up to the street and peaked out of the alley, looked around a little and then sneaking back to me. He placed his hand on my shoulder again.

"There are no soldiers on the streets at the moment, so we can move up the street to the next alley. We are close to a market place, we might be able to get some food from one of the stands." I nodded, but my head was pounding from of lack of sleep and food. I stood, but them immediately leaned back against the wall as a dizzy spell hit me and I was close to fainting. I took a few breaths, waited a few seconds for the dizziness to fade away, and then we started to run up the streets, staying close to the shadows and then diving into another alley. We stayed as close to the street as possible and spied on the few food stands we could see. There was nothing that I recognized in any of the stands, but that wasn't exactly a surprise. I was on a different planet, after all, so everything was bound to be different, even the food. And I was so hungry I could eat anything, so who cared if it looked different?

"Okay, so all I have to do is sneak over to one of the food stands and get some food? Shouldn't be so hard." I mumbled to myself, but I guess the Professor could still hear me, 'cause I saw him nod at me from the corner of my eye. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, someone grabbed me from behind, shoved me to the ground and placed their foot on my chest, keeping me down very easily since I was so weakened. I looked up and tried to see who it was who had attacked me, but the person was standing with their back against the sun that had started to rise over the buildings, so I couldn't see very much of him or her. But I heard that it was a girl when she started to talk, a rather young girl, in fact.

"Hold it right there, you thief! You won't be stealing anything from anyone, you hear me? I'm armed, just so you know!" I squinted a little and tried to see the attacker a bit better. She looked like one of those Federation Soldiers- in other words, like a human- had two long ponytails in a Japanese schoolgirl style, had a sword in her hand and some sort of scarf over her mouth, but that was about all I could see. I tried to push myself up from the ground and raised my hands to show that I surrendered.

"Whoa, whoa! Look Miss, I don't mean any trouble! But I haven't had anything to eat in days, and I really need something to eat or I'll starve! So, please, please could you overlook this theft, just this once?" The girl eyed me up and down, and then pushed me harder onto the ground and placed the tip of her sword inches away from my throat.

"Nice try, you dirty little freak! But I'm not stupid, and I've dealt with your kind before! I know that you'll just keep on stealing no matter what you say, that's the oldest trick in the book! I guess I'll just have to teach you what happens to those who steal." I guess I should be scared, or just nervous, but instead I got angry. No, not just angry. I was furious. So far I had been transported to another planet and hadn't been able to catch a break for the past few days. This one girl, who tried to deny me of getting something to eat, was the last straw for me. I raised my leg and kicked her off me with all the strength that I had and stood up again. I'd had enough, and that was easy to hear and see.

"Do you have any idea of what I've been put through? I've been transported to a different planet, light years away from my home and my family, been chased around by soldiers all day, been thrown into the midst of some kinda war on this planet and have had little to no sleep or food in almost three days! You might wanna step aside, cause I'm not gonna go easy on you if you don't!" The girl had stumbled away from me, had her hands over her chest, where I had kicked her, pulled down the scarf that covered her mouth and glared at me, without noticing that she had stepped into the light.

Now I could see her a lot better. She looked a little younger than Moriah, maybe around fifteen or sixteen years old, had blue skin and pointy ears, just like Moriah had, long and thick blue hair that reached down to her waist and was tied into those two high ponytails, and two smaller ponytails hanging by her ears. Her hair was a darker blue than the color of her skin. She had slanted green eyes that looked very similar to the color of Moriah's eyes. Two silver rings hung from her right ear, a short, black leather necklace with three sharp fangs hanging from it, and I guess those fangs came from some predator on this planet. She was dressed in a black tank top, a brown vest, tight black pants, and tall brown boots with a small, wide heel on them. (I began to see a pattern with the colours and the way most people on this planet were dressed) But what was kind of unsettling about her was a long scar that ran across her face, from her left eyebrow and down to her right cheek, looking like it had come from a knife or a sword. She was very pretty and if she hadn't attacked me, I probably would have thought she was much more beautiful, but right now I was angry at her for calling me a thief. She gripped the sword tighter in her hand and narrowed her eyes at me.

"Oh, you want a piece of me? Well, why don't you come and get it, you little freak!" I pulled out my bo staff and got into a defensive position, ready to fight. But before either of us could attack the other, the Professor interfered.

"Jhanna, stand down! He is a friend of mine! He means no harm!" The girl, apparently named Jhanna, looked over at the Professor in shock and surprise; I guess she hadn't seen him before. She lowered her sword, placed it in the strap on her back and walked up to him.

"Zayton? What the... What are you doing with this alien? I thought you were trying to hide from my father's soldiers." Father? You mean that this girl is related to Moriah, the daughter of their leader? Oh great, a new girl that had roots to their leader! The Professor walked over to me, placed his arm around my shoulders and brought me into the light as well, so she could see me better.

"This is Donatello, from the planet Earth, far away from our world. He was transported here through an accident with an alien portal on his own planet. He and I made a deal, he has promised to help me off this planet and protect me from your father's soldiers and I will help him get to his own planet in exchange. He has a good heart and means no harm, and I can guarantee that he's not a thief." Jhanna eyed me from head to toe with a critical eye.

"Wait a second..." She mumbled to herself, leaned in closer to me and examined every detail of my face and body. She then moved away from my face, placed her hand over her mouth, looking thoughtful. "I've seen you before." She said and then walked around me in a circle, examining me carefully.

"Yes, yes! Your picture is all over the planet. You and the Professor's. You're his so called 'bodyguard' and hunted just as much as Zayton is." Wait, what? I was a hunted 'criminal' on the planet? Oh, great! Now, as soon as somebody saw me I would be seen as a threat and I would have the military after me in less than a minute! Oh, that's just terrific!

"Aw, sewer apples!" I muttered to myself and hit my thigh with a clenched fist. Both Jhanna and the Professor looked at me strangely, but I didn't care. Forget that I was hungry and tired; we had to get off this planet, ASAP!

"Professor, we have to get off this planet, _now_! We need to come up with a plan!" The Professor nodded, but Jhanna perked up immediately after I spoke, grabbed me by the strap over my chest and pulled me close to her face.

"Wait, you're gonna leave the planet?" I nodded slowly and tried to pull my face away from hers, but it wasn't exactly easy, since she held me so close to her own face and she had a strong grip, and also because I had a shell that hindered me from moving my face so far away from hers.

"Uh, yeah... Especially now that our pictures are all over the planet. We'll be hunted both night and day! We'll have to get away from here." Jhanna bit her lip and looked like she was thinking hard over what I had said. I tried to pull her hand away from my strap, but she had strong hands and just tightened her grip on me. After a while, she let go of me and looked at the Professor and me.

"I can help you! I know a place where we can find some smugglers that could help us get off the planet. And it's not too far away from here! We'll be miles away from here by the end of the day!" I raised my eyebrow at her doubtfully and then looked at the robot beside me. He looked down on me and placed his hand on Jhanna's shoulder.

"Jhanna is a good girl. I have known her for a long time, and she has been against her father and his ideas. We can trust her, I know it. You don't have to worry about her being against us." I eyed the girl up and down and I couldn't help but feel doubtful about her. She had attacked me, threatened to severely hurt me and now suddenly wanted to help us. She noticed my look and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Look, I don't care much for you and if you survive or not, but if you want to protect Zayton and keep him away from my father, then we're on the same side. He's been my friend since I was a little girl, and I will protect him from being used against his will, even if it means leaving my home behind! And, if you let me help you, I could overlook the fact that you were going to steal and help you get some food. So, what do you say? Deal?" She reached out a hand to me, just like I had done when I asked the Professor if he wanted my help in exchange for helping me get back home, and I thought it over.

A part of me wanted to decline her help and figure this out on my own, but a bigger part of me said that I would never be able to figure everything out on my own, even with the Professor's help, and I needed somebody who knew this part of the galaxy better than I did. I didn't like this girl, but she knew more about this world than I did, and might be able to help. So I swallowed my pride, grabbed her hand and shook it, rather unenthusiastically and with a heavy sigh.

"Ugh, alright fine. Let's work together. So what's the plan- uh, Jhanna, right?" She nodded and turned to the Professor instead of me.

"Okay, we'll go to this tavern a few blocks away from here, it's a place where many smugglers tend to get some rest, food and whatever they need before they leave again. And there we can find someone who might be able to get us off the planet, one way or another." She said the last part as she hit her fist into her hand with a smirk, which reminded me so very much of something Raph would do. I felt my heart clench for a second and a sting of homesickness and longing for my brother hit me for the hundredth time since I got here, but I took a deep breath to get rid of the feeling and walked over to the sidewalk and pointed up the street.

"Well then, what are we waiting around for, let's get moving!" Jhanna and the Professor nodded and we started to sneak up the street.

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 **A/N: And there, it's done! In the next chapter I hope I can get some more action into it, as well as some moments with the turtles and Splinter as well.** **And I will also try to give some screen-time to April and Casey and not just the turtles and Splinter. Though, just so you know, I won't have the turtles, Splinter and the others in every chapter, since I want to focus on the big story, but I will cut back to them every now and then, just to give you a chance to check in on them and see how they're doing with Donnie gone.**

 **Hope you liked the chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**


	9. Chapter 8, The loss of a loved one

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Chapter update! I know I said that I would include April and Casey in this chapter, but honestly I couldn't fit them in. And I decided that they would give the turtles and splinter time to deal with the pain, rather then come to lair and think they're all better after just a few days. But don't worry, I will have them in the story soon!**

 **Now, this is more of an honest, pure, innocent question. I am _not_ trying to force _anyone_ out there to do _anything_ , but if any you out there is good at drawing or creating pictures (like fanart) would you be so kind as to maybe, just maybe, consider making a cover for this story, or maybe even draw certain scenes from chapters? I would love for this to at the very least have it's own cover picture. Now, I'm _not_ gonna ask you to make a pic for every chapter, but it's mostly for people who would like it, to see how my vision of the characters look, and not just in their heads. If you're interested, please send me a PM, and we'll come to some agreement. **

**Hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

* * *

Chapter 8, The loss of a loved one

The last few days had been very quiet, which was really unusual for us. In fact, had the situation been different, I would probably enjoy every second of it. But things weren't like they were supposed to be. Our lives had been turned upside down in just a matter of hours, and I wasn't so sure that I even wanted to get out of bed today. Or any day at all, for that matter. The only reason that I was up today was because my younger brothers needed me present and not lying around, feeling sorry for myself.

Ever since our discussion at breakfast yesterday, we had all been extra quiet and had done our own things to try and deal with the loss of our brother. Raph had been glued to his training dummy and had been punching it non-stop 24/7, trying to get rid of all his anger, frustration and grief. Mikey was currently lying on his stomach, sprawled out on the couch with his head on a pillow, staring blankly at the TV screen as the SRMFG cartoon was playing. But I don't really think he was paying attention to it at all. And as for me, I was just leaving the dojo. I had gotten Master Splinter some tea, and now I wasn't sure of what I was supposed to do. I had already dismissed the thought of doing some extra training. I tried a little after breakfast, but I just couldn't focus on the moves, or the form, or anything. And I just didn't feel like joining Mikey and watching TV with him, and Raph clearly showed he wanted to be left alone.

I slowly walked towards my room and closed the door behind me. Maybe a bit of reading might help? I walked up to my bookshelf and ran my finger over the books, trying to find something interesting to read. _The Book of Five Rings_? Nah, I've read that so many times before. _Lord of the rings_? A classic, but not really what I wanted to read at the moment. _The Book Thief_? Definitely not, it was about a girl who lost her family! My eyes fell on a book that I didn't recognize as my own. It was a tattered book, and the title was hard to read, but I could still make it out, even though it took a while. I could read the author's name rather easily, Stephen King. And the title was just one word, _Carrie_.

"Oh yeah, now I remember..." I mumbled to myself. Donnie had found this book a few months back when it fell down through the sewer grate. He had been glued to it for about a week and had by that time finished it, and after that I had seen him re-read it quite a few times. After seeing him reading through it for the sixth time, I had gotten curious about what was so good about it since it didn't have anything to do with science or math, so I has asked him to lend it to me. But I had never gotten to read it, and only now did I question why. I shrugged and thought, why not? I began to pull out the book, but then a thick, brown leather book fell from the shelf and hit the floor with a * _thud_ * and landed with the pages opened wide. I looked down at the book in surprise, pushed Carrie back onto the shelf and bent down to grab the other book and put it back on its place on the shelf. After I had put the book back on the shelf, I grabbed Donnie's book and walked out into the living room again.

Raph was still punching the dummy and was covered in sweat. I stopped for a second to look at him and I saw that he was fighting back his emotions and his tears, and while I felt a pang of sympathy for him, I knew better than to try and comfort him right now. The best I thing could do was to let him come to me instead of the other way around. Mikey was still lying on the couch with the same cartoon still on TV and in the same position as earlier, so I sat down beside him and placed my hand on his shoulder.

"Hey. How're you holding up, bro?" Mikey didn't look up at me, nor did he acknowledge me at all. He just stared at the screen with dull eyes.

"I'm fine. Just tired." I knew he was lying and that he was trying to keep us from worrying about him, but he should know we would do anything to help him. I squeezed his shoulder and that made him look up at me.

"Mikey. You don't have to pretend, we all feel the same way." Mikey sighed softly, closed his eyes tightly, then quickly buried his face in the pillow and whimpered into it. It took a few seconds for me to realize that his whimpering was crying, but when I did, I was quick to place my hand on his shell and rub it comfortingly.

"I- I feel awful! I- I just miss him, Leo! I miss him so much!" He started to sob loudly into the pillow, placing his arms underneath it so he could easier press his face deeper into the soft materials. I could hear as well as see in the corner of my eye that Raph had stopped punching the practice dummy and turned towards us. I gathered Mikey into my arms and he hugged me back as hard as he could. I dropped the book and hugged Mikey as hard as I could and rubbed his shell softly. Mikey sobbed into my shoulder and hugged me so tightly I almost couldn't breathe, but I let him hold onto me for as long as he needed to.

"I- I can't stop thinking about him! He must have thought that we hated him! And we'll never see him, ever again!" Mikey sobbed hysterically into my neck and I felt tears of my own start to form in my eyes.

"I know, Mikey. I know." I said, my voice cracking, and nuzzled my face into Mikey's neck and bit my lip to try and keep the tears away. My little brother's tears were soaking my neck and shoulder, but I didn't feel it at all. And even if I did, I didn't care. Mikey continued to sob.

"I just wish I could go back to that fight we had and just try to fix everything, to stop us arguing and to stop us from being jerks! But I can't, and now Donnie'll think that we hate him and that we don't care and that we-!"

"Shut up!" Raph yelled, his voice cracking, and I could almost hear the tears that fell down his cheeks. Both Mikey and I turned to our brother, who stood completely still, had his fists clenched and his eyes red from the tears. I could see that he was trying so hard to keep himself from breaking down sobbing, so hard that his body was shaking with the effort.

"Just shut up, Mikey." This time he spoke softly, made his way towards us, and sat down on the couch beside me. It was rare for Raph to be wise, judicious, or just calm, but he had his moments when he could be, and I could see that he was about to get fully serious about what he was about to say.

"Look, you guys know I don't really believe in the afterlife, or that people go to Heaven or Hell when they die, but if Donnie really is dead, and it really does exist- some sort of afterlife- and Donnie's gone there and can see us, then I think he would see how we cope without him. I think that he somehow knows, whether he's alive or not, that we're sad because he's gone, and has forgiven us. Somehow." Raph had kept his head down the whole time.

"Do you? Do you really believe that, Raph? In all honesty?" I tried to not sound like I was accusing him or sound like I doubted him, and Raph did look up and straight into my eyes, as if to see what I really thought. After a while he sighed, shrugged my hand off and dried his nose with his hand. And now both Mikey and I could see that he had a very hard time trying to fight off the tears and the sobs.

"Honestly? No, no I don't. But that's what I try to make myself believe. I keep trying to assure myself that that's what Donnie is thinking of us right now, whether he really is dead or not. But I just can't believe it, no matter how much I want to." Raph suddenly gave in and let his tears fall, even though he was still trying to stop himself. I was about to wrap my arms around him, but Mikey was quicker than me. He ran out of my arms and threw his arms around Raph's shoulders, nuzzled his face into his neck and sat down on his lap, like a child. Usually Raph would just push him down on the floor, but for now he let Mikey hug him, and wrapped his arms around Mikey. I scooted closer to my brothers and hugged them both closer to me as a stream of tears ran down my cheeks and I bit my lip to try and keep myself from sobbing. I needed to be strong for my little brothers, not cry like a baby in front of them anytime they cried.

"My sons." We all looked up and towards the door to the dojo, where Master Splinter was standing with his arms folded behind his back, his eyes red from crying and both his ears and whiskers hanging, showing us his spirits were just as low as ours. He was trying to sound calm and collected, but his voice was shaky, cracking slightly, like he would start to cry again any second now.

"My sons, I have come to a decision, or a suggestion, I should say. When we feel the time is ready, we should have a memorial ceremony for Donatello. So that his soul may rest in peace, or somehow sense that we will remember him, should he be alive." Hm, that sounded like a pretty good idea. If Donnie now is dead, which is more likely than the alternative, the least we could do, as his family, was to give him as good of a funeral as we could. I turned to Mikey and Raph, who had now let go of each other.

"Well, I think it sounds like a great idea. It's the least we can do; I mean, we're his family. He should have some sort of funeral, or memory ceremony, or whatever we should call it. What do you think?" Raph bit his lip in thought and Mikey hummed. After a while they both nodded and we looked up at Master Splinter again.

"Yeah, that sounds like something we really should do. Donnie deserves it!" Mikey said with a bit more enthusiasm this time; he sounded a little happier now. But not entirely. Raph nodded too and placed his arm around Mikey's shoulders.

"Yeah, he does. But maybe we could wait a little, just for us to get used to Donnie being... you know, gone. And who knows? Maybe he'll show up, somehow. Somewhere. Donnie's smart, maybe he'll figure a way back home to us." He said with such hope that I couldn't bring myself to say that it probably wouldn't happen. I didn't want to be the bearer of bad news again. Splinter looked down at the floor and took a deep, shaky breath, and stroked his beard while thinking over Raph's words. When he looked up again, he tried to smile.

"Yes, perhaps, Raphael. Perhaps. Now, I will go and meditate. No training tonight." He turned around and walked back to the dojo. The three of us looked at each other in concern. Splinter had cancelled every training session since yesterday morning and I had a feeling why. Seeing only the three of us instead of four would only make it harder for him to deal with the loss. I sighed sadly, looked down at the floor and noticed the book that I had dropped when Mikey had started cry in my arms. I bent down and grabbed it, opened it and skimmed through the pages. It looked a little tattered and the cover looked ready to fall off, so I had to be careful with it. Raph noticed the book I had in my hand and peered at the title over my shoulder.

"' _Carrie_ '? Isn't that the book Donnie read all the way through in less than a week? The one he keeps re-reading when he's bored?" I nodded and closed the book. I decided to read it a little later, maybe when I went to bed tonight.

"He told me it's his favorite book that's pure fiction and not scientific or all about facts. I don't remember entirely, but I think it's about a bullied teenage girl, who's abused by her crazy mother and then develops telekinesis." Mikey and Raph looked at me with confused looks on their faces and I shrugged. "Yeah, I don't know, I didn't write it. I borrowed it a while back; since Donnie had read it so many times I thought maybe I could give it a shot. Haven't read it yet, though. Figured now might be a good time." Raph and Mikey nodded and we all looked away from each other, trying to think of something to say. Mikey shrugged lightly and looked up at us, with uninterested eyes and a plastic smile.

"So... anybody hungry?" He asked with very little enthusiasm and it was clear he was just trying to strike up a new conversation or just say something, no matter how stupid it sounded. None of us had had much of an appetite for the last few days and every meal had barely been touched. But we knew we had to eat sometime, no matter how unappetizing it felt at the moment. I patted Mikey on the shoulder and stood up.

"Sure, let's go and eat something." We all stood, albeit reluctantly, and walked towards the kitchen.

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 **A/N: And there's a filler chapter done and we get to see the turtles and a little bit of Splinter in this chapter!**

 **Okay, so some of you may have noticed by now that I have a bit of a thing with Stephen King and some of his stories, most notably his first story, Carrie. I can't help it, I just love that story, and I have plans for future chapters that will have a connection to that story, and no I won't say more than that. And honestly, I can see Donnie actually liking this story, and maybe identify with Carrie White, you know with him being a bit bullied by his brothers and Casey and his crush not really noticing him (the way he wants her too anyway) and the adult of the story not really doing much to help. But that might just be me.**

 **Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	10. Chapter 9, Triceraton encounter!

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Triceraton time people! And yes, I am gonna include them hating the Kraang and wanting to destroy them, just like in the actual series, but it won't be too necessary for the story right now. That'll come in later.**

 **And here I come with a new question, that I'm giving you. How much do you think I should include Donnie's brothers, Splinter, April and Casey in this story? Every other chapter, every fifth chapter or not that often at all? I have an idea for they're gonna go through, later in the story, but up until that point where they think Donnie is dead, how much should I include them? You, the reader, tell me your thoughts!**

 **Hope you'll enjoy the chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 9, Triceraton encounter!

One must ask oneself, 'how far am I willing to go in order to have things go my way?' In my case, I had decided to put my trust in a _complete stranger_ to help the Professor and me get off this planet. And not just any stranger, but an alien girl who was the sister of Moriah, the daughter of the general! That was practically asking for more trouble than I already had. But, if it meant getting away from here, then it might be worth it. It _better_ be worth it. Or I think I might have a meltdown.

At the moment we were all hiding behind a few containers, taking a break from sneaking through the streets and from hiding from the soldiers that were still running around, looking for us. At this rate we would arrive at that tavern that Jhanna had talked about by nighttime. Jhanna had sneaked out into the town square and had sneaked some food out of a few of the stands, since the Professor and I were wanted by everyone on this planet.

"Didn't you just call me out for trying to steal, when you're doing the exact same thing?" I pointed out once she got back and gave me some of the food she had snatched. She shrugged and bit into something that looked like a mix of a tomato and an apple, but tasted more like something closer to a citrus fruit. It wasn't that great, but not inedible.

"Just because I do something wrong doesn't mean I don't know it's wrong. And besides, I'm the daughter of General Blanque. It gives you quite a few benefits. No one'll accuse me of stealing because of that fact. You? Well, you're just a plain fugitive alien. They'll arrest you in seconds." I glared at her and lowered the fruit from my mouth.

"Well, you're a big old hypocrite, aren't you?" Jhanna rolled her eyes at me, swallowed down another bite of her fruit and shrugged nonchalantly. I started to nibble on what was left of the fruit in my hand, but I suddenly got hit with another sting of homesickness. I remembered that I had called Leo a hypocrite during our fight back at the Lair. And at the moment, I started to think about whether he was a hypocrite or not. I mean, Leo always thinks of the best for the team. But still, he hadn't even tried to listen to me! And thinking of the best for the team didn't give him any reason to act like a jerk! Still, Leo was my big brother, I loved him and I missed him. And he would probably have a much better plan ready by now than I do.

"Donatello? Are you alright?" I looked up and saw both Jhanna and the Professor looking at me, although Jhanna looked rather uncaring. I then realized that tears were running down my face and I quickly wiped them away. I couldn't seriously start crying _now_ , of all times! It wouldn't do anything to help anyone! I tried to smile.

"I... No, no, I'm fine Professor. I guess I'm just tired and it's just taking its toll on me. I'm fine, really." Jhanna just rolled her eyes yet again and swallowed down some fig colored chips- that I thought tasted like a mix of ham and turkey- and looked away from me. The Professor, however, put his hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes.

"Are you sure? You said something about a family when we left my cave. Something about brothers? Is there something you wish to talk about? It might make you feel better." This caught Jhanna's attention and she looked at me curiously with a raised eyebrow. I bit my lip and looked down at the ground. I picked up some of those chips and nibbled on them.

"No, I don't want to talk about it. No offense, Professor, but I've only known you for a few days, and I don't think I want to tell you my entire life story and about my family just yet. Maybe later, though." The Professor nodded and leaned back against the container. He respected my space, and I really appreciated that. Especially since I had some emotional baggage to work through. Jhanna swallowed down the last few chips and slowly sat up.

"Come on, let's get moving! We have to get to that tavern before night falls. From then on, even more soldiers will be out and look for us. I- I mean you!" I raised my eyebrow in confusion at her when she said 'us' and when she so quickly corrected herself. But I just shrugged it off and we all started to move again.

We all ran up the street and tried to keep to the shadows. I had talked to Jhanna about it and she had actually agreed to stick to the shadows. She was surprisingly stealthy and her agile body moved swiftly from shadow to shadow like, well, kind of like an actual shadow. She actually reminded me of a real kunoichi. And gave off a better aura than her sister did. Still, that didn't mean that I could trust her. Or that I even _wanted_ to trust her, for that matter.

* * *

Five hours prior...

The alleyway was dark and there wasn't much light, other than the few streetlights and the light of the stars and the moons. Only a fool would be out in this neighborhood at night, but I really had to do this. I sneaked towards an old abandoned warehouse and walked in. And while I walked, I thought over what I was doing. Was I really that smart, doing this right now? I mean, General Blanque was a brute and a dictator and he deserved to be destroyed by our enemies, but betraying him like this? I was practically asking to be executed! Still, it would be much better than this life.

"Miss Lonae, I had hoped that you would make it. I have waited for you." I jumped at the deep voice that rang throughout the room and in the faint light that shone through the windows and the cracks in the walls, I could make out the big, bulky and dangerous form of a Triceraton, our planet's sworn enemy for centuries. Commander Mozar stepped forward and looked down at me.

"It surprises me that a Federation Soldier, such as yourself, is willing to betray her people in such a manner. Care to tell me exactly why you are seeing me, and what kind of information you have that you claim is so valuable to us, as a means to destroy your people?" I took a deep breath and stepped forward. I brushed my hair out of my eyes and looked the Triceraton straight in the eyes, feeling my knees wobble underneath me.

"I- I don't exactly know. General Blanque is a tyrant and a monster, and I would much rather die than let my people become monsters like he is. And maybe letting us all die is much better than let everything go downhill like this." I took another deep breath and looked up at the alien again.

"A-and I have information of a weapon that General Blanque claims is the key for total domination of the entire galaxy, maybe even the universe! And you may finally have your revenge on your sworn enemies, those aliens that destroyed your planet. And I know how you can get it." Mozar turned to me with wide eyes and I knew I had his full attention. He grabbed my wrist, his rough hand almost ripping off my arm, and lifted me off the ground, making it possible for us to see eye to eye.

"I will pay you any amount you want, but in exchange, you will tell me everything you know about this weapon and the person who has it! Every single detail, every single fact and every single thing that you know! And I do mean everything." I felt my arm ache, like it was close to ripping from my body altogether, and I closed my eyes in pain. I couldn't help but whimper in pain, but I tried to ignore it and looked Mozar straight in the eyes.

"Okay, there's this robot, the Fugitoid, or Professor Honeycutt..."

* * *

Well, here we are. The tavern that Jhanna claimed was crawling heavily with smugglers that could help us get off this planet. Aliens were walking in and out of the place all the time, each one looking more strange and scary than the last. We were currently hiding in an alleyway, discussing what to do now.

"Okay, so we're here. Now what do we do? Just waltz right in? I mean, everybody on the planet knows our faces and that the Federation wants to have us captured. Or at least the Fugitoid. Any ideas, Jhanna?" I looked over at the blue-skinned girl and she hummed in thought. Something dark and flowing caught my eye and I looked up to see a clothesline with laundry hanging from it. From the line hung a few long brown cloaks with hoods, perfect for if you want to hide your face! I smirked to myself and stood up from where I had been crouching.

"You know, on second thought, I think I have an idea on how we can get in there undetected. It's time for the ninjutsu art of disguise." I reached up and grabbed one of the cloaks, yanked it off the clothesline and put it on, pulled up the hood and wrapped the brown cloth around me so no one would be able to see anything of me. The Professor and Jhanna looked at me, and Jhanna raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Don't you think that's a bit conspicuous? I mean, you look as if you're trying to hide something. Or yourself. People are gonna look at you either way." I shrugged and pulled the hood off so I could look her in the eyes.

"Yeah, well, I'd rather that these aliens look at me because I look strange rather than because I'm a fugitive. Now, are you gonna do this, or do you have a better idea?" I sounded defiant and I knew she probably hated me by now, or just really didn't like me anyway. But we had to keep moving, or we might get caught. The Professor also grabbed one of the brown cloaks and put it on, but as Jhanna did the same thing, I looked at her in surprise and lightly grabbed her by the elbow.

"Hey, why do you want to sneak around anyway? I mean, it's not like you're a fugitive or a criminal." Jhanna glared up at me, yanked her arm back and shoved me roughly, making me stumble a little.

"That's none of your business! All you need to know is that I want to leave this place, and nobody can know about it! Nobody, do you hear me?" I nodded and she nodded curtly back at me. "Good." She turned around and walked closer to the streets to see how many aliens there were at the entrance, so I pulled the Professor aside and whispered to him so Jhanna wouldn't hear me.

"Why does she hate me? What have I done to make her act like a jerk towards me?" The Professor shook his head and placed his hand on my shoulder. It was good to know at least somebody was acting like my friend.

"Oh no, she doesn't hate you, Donatello. Jhanna just likes to test people, that's all. She is a nice girl, but very reserved. She'll let you in eventually. Don't you worry." He patted me on the shoulder and we walked up to Jhanna. She was kneeling down on the ground, looking at the entrance, and I knelt down next to her, but still gave her a bit of space.

"So what do you say, Jhanna? Are we good to go?" Jhanna had her eyes fixated on the door that was still crawling heavily with aliens going in and out of the building. She nodded slowly, pulled her hood over her head and stood up.

"Okay, let's go!" The Professor and I pulled our hoods over our heads and we all walked as casually as possible up to the entrance without attracting too many looks. I felt the stares burn through the cloak, but I knew I had to bear with it for a while, until we could leave this planet.

The tavern was relatively big, filled with all kinds of aliens, and the heat was unbearable. I guess that was because of all the people in here, but still. I had to fight the urge to tear off the cloak right here and now. My brothers and I had never been in a tavern, or a room filled with so many people (obviously), and it felt really uncomfortable. I accidentally ran into a big fat alien with blue-purple skin, about ten eyes and four-fingered hands. He yelled angrily at me, but in a new and different language that I couldn't, for the life of me, understand, so I just mumbled apologies and hurried after Jhanna and the Professor, who had found a table and sat themselves down. I sat down beside the Professor and leaned in close to them so we could talk without anyone hearing us.

"Okay, so now what do we do, Jhanna? How do we know who's a smuggler in this hullabaloo? And even if we do find some smugglers, what are we gonna say? 'Hey, is it okay if we hitch a ride with you when you leave here?' Or do you have a plan?" Jhanna glared and leaned closer to me.

"Why do I always have to have do everything? You have a brain too, right? Why don't you help come up with something? Or is that too hard for you? Do the life forms on your planet not think for themselves?" I knew I should ignore her and I knew I had to keep myself from blowing our cover, but to do that I had to bite my lip so I wouldn't

"Okay, look here, missy. I don't know what your problem is, but I am really growing sick of your attitude! In case you hadn't noticed it already, I'm not from this part of the universe, much less this planet! I don't know how things on your planet work, I don't know how to find anything here and I can't read or understand your stupid language, so cut me some slack here, okay? Out of the three of us, you have the best idea as to how we get off this planet, it was _your_ idea to come here, _you_ promised to help _us_ , so maybe you could follow through on _your_ promise, and actually _help us_!" I hissed as loudly as I dared to her, and she was taken slightly aback at my response. But she quickly recovered and leaned even closer to my face.

"Oh yeah? Well, that doesn't mean that you can act like you can't think _at all_! You can try to help too, you know, and not be some useless dead weight for the Professor and me to carry! Or maybe you think that Zayton and I have to do _all_ the thinking here, or what?" I knew I should ignore her and let my anger wash away, like Splinter had told Raph so many times in the past, but I couldn't help it! This girl was driving me insane! I leaned closer to Jhanna and hissed just a little louder.

"Well, _excuse_ me, Princess! But whose idea was it to hide in the shadows and be stealthy instead of running up the streets in the light? Mine. And whose idea was it to use these cloaks to disguise ourselves? Mine! So stop acting like you're doing everything on your own, 'cause you're not! Drop the diva act!" Jhanna's face was almost purple in anger, and she opened her mouth to respond, but the Professor placed his hands on our chests and pushed us away from each other.

"Please, you two, stop fighting! We have to focus on getting off this planet and to someplace safer than this; that's what's important right now. Not fighting. Now, Jhanna? What do you think is the best way to go from here?" Jhanna glared at me for a second, closed her eyes and took a deep breath through her nose. She opened her mouth to respond, when...

 ***KABOOM***

An explosion was heard throughout the whole building and almost everybody got down on the floor to protect themselves from flying rubble. After all the dust and smoke had cleared I looked over my shoulder, and saw that in the wall at the other end of the room was a giant hole, and Federation soldiers were running in with guns at the ready. I looked at both Jhanna and the Professor and motioned to get under the table. They nodded and we all did so. From where we were, I could see the soldiers (but they couldn't see me) and then I saw something even worse. Moriah was with them! She had a gun in her hand and looked as elegant as a cobra and just as dangerous.

"Okay, everybody down on the floor, now!" Every alien in the room went down on their knees and tried to find protection from the guns and the soldiers. Moriah walked around in the room, clearly enjoying scaring these poor aliens and every now and then she placed the gun to an alien's head, scaring the creature out of its mind. This girl was sick! Jhanna was looking at Moriah from under the table and scowling.

"What is she doing here? She's gonna ruin everything!" She mumbled and crawled farther under the table. I looked at Jhanna and got the impression that she didn't have a very good relationship with her sister. Moriah was now standing in the middle of the room and looking out over the aliens, cowering on their knees, shaking in fear.

"Okay, Professor Zayton Honeycutt! We know you're here! We tracked your signal to this place, and if you don't come with us willingly, we'll start executing civilians! I'll give you one minute!" She gave a few soldiers a small signal with her hand and they ran toward a group of aliens and picked out a few, pointing their guns to their heads. I felt my jaw hit the floor. How could anyone be this ruthless as to kill innocent bystanders just to get what they wanted? This was more than inhumane; it was... It was... Oh, I can't think of a good enough word for it! Jhanna tapped me on the arm and motioned towards a back door.

"Come on, now's our chance! We can leave through that door, and take one of the ships parked out there! Hurry, we don't have much time!" I felt conflicted. I wanted nothing more than to leave and find my way back home again and never see another alien for the rest of my life. But there were innocent aliens here who would die if we left them like this. I couldn't just leave them to die, could I?

"But... what about them? They'll die if we don't do something!" Jhanna grabbed my arm and tugged on it. She was both impatient and nervous and tried to pull me out from underneath the table.

"Look, in this world, you can't save everybody! It's an alien-eat-alien world out there! Sometimes you do horrible things if you want to survive; now come on!" I let her drag me away and we started to crawl towards the door, but the Professor refused to follow us.

"No! I am not about to let innocent beings be executed because of me! I won't stand for it!" Jhanna started to look more and more frantic and looked from the door to the Professor and then back again.

"Zayton, please, we have to leave, _now_! If we don't leave now, it might take forever to find another ship to sneak aboard; we have to go now!" But the Professor just shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. Oh, why did every single person I knew have to be stubborn? Why could I never meet somebody who was more willing to go along with plans and not refuse to listen?

 ***KABOOM***

Another explosion was heard and we hurried back under the table again, partly because of flying debris and rubble and partly so no one of the Federation would see us. But this time there weren't any Federation Soldiers that ran in through the hole in the wall; this time it was about fifteen big, bulky, and strong-looking aliens. And once the dust and smoke started to clear away, I saw that they looked oddly enough like Triceratops! Like, mutant versions of dinosaurs! The biggest one, who I guess was the leader, stepped forward and pointed his gun towards the aliens and the Federation soldiers.

"Spread out, men, find the Fugitoid now! Prime Leader Zanramon wants him alive! Find that robot!" The other dinosaurs started roam through the building, and now all the aliens on the floor got to their feet and ran for their lives, shoving each other to try and get out of the building, and the Federation seemed too blown away by the interruption to do anything to stop them. Moriah pressed on a button on a gauntlet she had on her arm -that I recognized as her scanning device- and yelled into it.

"Moriah to base, we need backup! Triceratons are attacking! I repeat, Triceratons are attacking, we need backup!" She then gripped her gun a bit tighter in her hands and attacked. Laser beams flew across the room and the bodies of Federation soldiers hit the floor every now and then. The laser bullets hit a couple of wires and fire started to spread in the room. I turned to Jhanna and Honeycutt, who also looked out over the spectacle with surprise and a bit of fear.

"Who are these guys? And _what_ are they?" The Professor turned to me and leaned closer to whisper in my ear.

"They're Triceratons, one of the Federation's most hated enemies! I can't imagine what they're doing here." Jhanna turned to him with a slightly sour look on her face.

"No? Well, I can. Now come on, the civilians are out of the way now! We can leave, right? If we don't leave now, we'll burn alive!" The Professor nodded, but before we could move an inch, somebody lifted the table up and threw it across the room, hitting a couple of Federation soldiers, killing them instantly. And when I looked up, I saw a big, ugly Triceraton look down on us and before we could move, he grabbed the Professor by the arm with one hand, and me a Jhanna with the other. Jhanna kicked and screamed and struggled in his grip and I tried to fight against the big alien's grip on me, but it was no use. He was way too strong.

"Commander Mozar! I have the Fugitoid, but what do I do with his little friends? Shall I destroy them?" Their leader, Mozar, turned to us and looked us over. But before he could answer, the Professor yelled at him over the fire and the fighting.

"No, please don't harm my friends! Please, I'll do anything; just don't harm them!" Mozar heard this and hummed in thought. Then he saw that the fire was spreading and waved at the Triceraton who held us.

"Bring them along, they might be useful. Now, come on! This place is crumbling!" The Triceraton started dragging Jhanna and me like a child dragging a wagon. Both Jhanna and I kicked and screamed and tried to get away, but nothing worked. The Triceraton didn't even seem to notice our struggling.

He dragged us over to a spaceship, along with two other Triceratons, and he threw Jhanna to one of them and me to the other, like we were a pair of rag dolls.

"Take these two with you and lock them inside the storage room! And prepare some oxygen converters for them; we're going to need them alive if Mozar finds them useful! I'll handle the Fugitoid!" The two Triceratons nodded, pulling us over to their spaceship. We heard the Professor cry out for help, but we were powerless to assist him. The two Triceratons threw me and Jhanna into a small, cramped little room in their ship and threw a pair of small devices at us before they shut the door and locked it. I immediately got up from the floor and threw myself at the door and tried force it open. Jhanna also tried to help open the door, but after a while we both realized that it was no use. I picked it up one of the small devices in the floor and looked it over. A small metal box, not much bigger than a Band-Aid box with two buttons on one side, and a long plastic tube. I looked at Jhanna who had also picked up the device and had placed the tube in her mouth and fastened the box in her belt and then pressed a small green button on the side, so I did the same. After I was done, I sat down on the floor, leaned back against the wall and tried to keep myself together. Jhanna kicked the wall in anger and then leaned back against it as well.

"Well, this is just fantastic! We're not only captured, but we're captured by Triceratons! This cannot possible get any worse!" I looked up at her and took a deep breath to keep my emotions at bay.

"Y-you mean we're doomed? That we won't be able to escape?" Jhanna shrugged and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Not from what I've heard. These Triceratons will most likely kill us if we're not useful to them. And if we are useful to them, they'll lock us up in their prisons! And from what I've heard, no one's been able to escape from them! It's both a prison and a gladiator arena, you fight for your life every day and then you get to sleep in a small cell with little to no food. We're doomed either way, the way I see it." I felt the tears burn in my eyes, and it was getting harder and harder to hold them back. I had blown it! I had lost my chance to get back home again! The Professor was gone with the Triceratons and we were off to a prison no one had ever escaped from! I would never see my family again! And then, I just couldn't hold it back anymore. My tears fell and I started to sob into my arms and pulled my knees up to my chest. I heard Jhanna gasp in surprise and she walked up closer to me.

"Hey, what's the matter with you? I mean, you don't exactly look like that super strong and tough type of guy, but I didn't take you for a crybaby!" She didn't sound that accusing, but I still felt a bit offended by this. I looked up at her, thick tears streaming from my eyes, and I shook my head.

"N-no, you don't get it! I blew it! I blew my one chance to get back home to my family!" I buried my face in my arms and kept on sobbing. "I had one chance to get home and see my family again, and I blew it! I tried the best that I could, and I _still_ failed!" I know I sounded like baby, but I couldn't help it. Jhanna didn't say anything, but I felt an awkward hand on my shoulder, which wasn't much, but it helped a little. I looked up at her and she tried to smile, though it was pretty stiff.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Look- Donatello, right?" I nodded and tried to dry my eyes, although it was pretty pointless, seeing how more tears just came anyway. Jhanna patted me on the shoulder. "Okay. Look Donatello, I know you don't like me, and I'm not so sure of what to think of you just yet. But if we want to get away from their prison alive and save the Professor, we have to stick together. We won't stand a chance on our own, and right now the Professor needs us! So, think we might be able to start over? And try to act more like adults instead of children?" I looked up at her and saw that she was sincere and was trying to look nicer, even though her smile looked a little bit forced. I smiled back, dried my eyes and nodded.

"Sure, I guess we can try. And, uh you can call me Donnie, if you'd like. All my friends and my family do." Jhanna smiled at me, a real smile this time, and for the first time since I met her, I started to feel like she might be a good ally to have. Maybe I wasn't so crazy to trust her after all?

Or maybe I was?

* * *

 **A/N: Uh oh! Things are looking pretty bad for Donnie and his friends! But good news for them, more allies are on the way, maybe! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review favorite and follow!**


	11. Chapter 10, Time for a change!

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: New chapter up! And I can finally start on the 'plot' that I've been waiting to start ever since I came up with the idea!**

 **Okay, so I got this review a few days back, who asked if I could update faster? Now, I won't point fingers to anyone right now, but please don't ask me to try and update faster! I'm a Junior in High School and I have a lot of things I need to do, and I also have my own life to live, so please bear with me and I'm trying to update once a week!**

 **And, I decided to give you some Splinter in this chapter! Hope you'll like it and how I did it! I also hope you'll like this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

* * *

Chapter 10, Time for a change!

 _There was nothing but darkness around me wherever I turned, and my ears were met with nothing but silence as well. And yet I could see just as well as I could in daylight. There was some mist flowing around me, but that was it; I couldn't see anything else. I was alone in the darkness and the silence._

 _"Hello? Is there anyone here?" The echo of my own voice and a soft cry was heard, but again, that was it. And the cry was so soft and faint that I could barely hear it all, let alone what was said, if anything was said at all._

 _Then suddenly, the ground vanished under my feet and I fell. I fell through the darkness and I was too shocked to scream. Then I landed on something hard that felt like rock, and just let myself lie there for what felt like hours._

 _Finally I groaned in pain and sat up, rubbing my head. But once I looked up, I felt my stomach clench and my heart stop beating. A big, purple vortex was in front of me, about twenty feet away and was trying to suck me into nothingness. But that wasn't what terrified me. Donatello was clinging to the ground as tightly as he could and trying to save himself from the swirling vortex. He was clawing at the ground, his pupils were small as pinheads and he was inching closer and closer to his doom. In less than a second, I got to my feet and my focus was on my son, and my son alone._

 _"Donatello!" He looked up from the ground at me with eyes full of terror. He dug his hands into the ground, but he still slipped closer and closer to the vortex. He didn't have much time or effort left, but he still reached out his hand towards me, his eyes pleading me for help._

 _"Sensei! Father, please help me!" I started to run towards my son and stretched out my hand towards him, but it was as if the distance kept growing, or as if I was only moving forward one inch at the time or in slow motion, because I was not very fast and didn't move that much closer to my son. Donatello desperately dragged himself forward and extended his arm further._

 _"Sensei, please, help!" Suddenly, I was going faster, and although it wasn't that much faster, I was getting closer to my son. I reached out my hand towards him, so I could grab his hand as soon as I got close enough._

 _"_ _Do not fear, Donatello! I'm coming!" After what felt like an eternity I was only a few feet away from my child, but then,_ _just as I was about to take his hand and pull him to safety,_ _a strong, invisible force hit me back and knocked me back several feet._

 _"Sensei!" Donatello cried out to me, and I got back up again as quickly as I could and looked towards my son and saw that it was too late. The force of the vortex had gotten stronger, and Donatello clung harder to the ground, desperately trying to save himself, but was pulled even closer to the vortex and cried out in terror. Everything seemed to slow down, my heart stopped beating once again and I started to run again. Even though I knew it was too late, I had to try! My son's life was at risk!_

 _"NO! Donatello!" Donatello tried to reach for me again. I tried to grab his hand, but then suddenly, again, the vortex started to close, just before I got close enough to grab onto my child's hand and pull him away from the danger. Donatello noticed it too and looked into my eyes and I could see nothing but pure fear and panic._

 _"Oh, no! Dad, help me!" The vortex closed just before I could grab his hand and instead I felt thin air between my fingers. Donatello's scream echoed in my ears. He was gone, as well as the vortex that he had fallen through._

 _"DONATELLO!" I collapsed to my knees and felt warm tears fall down my cheeks; I tried to collect myself, to no avail. I couldn't save him! My child had needed me, he had depended on me, but I wasn't fast enough to save him. Just like I couldn't save Miwa when she was a baby, I had failed to save another one of my children..._

"NO!" I flew up from my tatami mat, panting heavily with sweat running through my fur. I looked around my room and tried to take deep breaths. I placed my hand on my forehead and felt tears trying to seep out of my eyes. It was just a dream, nothing but a dream.

No, it wasn't a dream. It was a nightmare! A nightmare that had come true; I had lost another one of my children.

I stood up and walked over to a shelf where I had placed a box, in which I had collected a few of my favorite photos and keepsakes from my when my sons were small. I opened the box and looked through its contents. I saw Leonardo's first wooden practice sword, a picture of Raphael when he was seven and he found Spike, and some of Michelangelo's drawings. I dug through the contents and picked up a photo of a six-year-old Donatello, surrounded by his books, his first tools, a radio and two thick cords, sticking out his tongue in frustration. I chuckled lightly at his expression and felt tears start to form in my eyes.

My poor, innocent baby was gone now, and was most likely dead. And I hadn't been there to help him! I had let my sons out of the lair despite the overwhelming tension that had been growing between them for so long. Donatello had tried to tell me about how he felt unappreciated and mistreated by his brothers, and how they weren't listening to him. I should have been there to help him and talk to his brothers as well; I should not have left it all to Donatello to sort out on his own. What kind of father am I? I wiped my hand across my eyes and took a deep breath to keep myself from crying again.

I put the photo back in the box and dug out a small, toy robot and looked it over. It was a small, stubby little robot with red eyes that were supposed to blink when you turned it on and had claws for hands. If I remembered it all correctly, Donatello had put it together when he was three years old and had given it to Leonardo as a gift for their Mutation Day. But as Leonardo got older he had given it to me, since he didn't want get rid of it but didn't have any space for it in his room. Or so he said.

My second youngest son had proven to be very intelligent and resourceful, even as a small child. He had surpassed my own intelligence levels before he was older than eight, and had proven over and over just how much he could do and was willing to do for this family. Like setting up our electricity, for example.

If he was somehow, as Raphael wanted to believe, still alive out there somewhere, I had no doubt that he would be able to find his way back home to us.

I sighed, put the robot down in the box again and closed it with a light 'click'. As long as there's life, there's hope; but that did not mean that it was easy to cling onto that hope. Donatello was very resourceful and quick on his feet, but he (as much as I hate to admit it) was not my best student. He relied too much on his brain, his mind; and that made him vulnerable in a fight. He also questioned my teachings quite often, as he was a logical and scientific boy and didn't always have an open mind for spiritual or ancient ways of teaching. Still, he was strong in mind and in spirit, he was as stubborn as a mule and he never gave up. I wanted to believe he was alive, but I also knew that that chance was, if it even existed, very, very slim.

I lay back down on my tatami mat and stared up at the ceiling, trying to go back to sleep. I felt myself getting more and more tired, but before I could go back to sleep, I looked up at the photo of all four of my sons, standing together in the dojo and smiling into the camera, and eyed my purple-clad son.

"No matter what has become of you, my child, you must always remember that I love you, Donatello."

* * *

(Donnie's P.O.V)

I don't know how long we had been trapped in that small, cramped supply closet, but it must've been quite some time since both Jhanna and I had fallen asleep at some point during the ride. Jhanna had lain down on the floor and fallen asleep after (I think) about an hour, and I had followed her example about five minutes later. And I have to admit, sleep had never felt so good in my life. There was no pain, no worry and no fear, just peace and tranquility. I felt better and better by the second. Too bad it was ruined all too early.

"Get up, you two! Prime Leader Zanramon has ordered us to take you to your cells!" I was shaken roughly and I blinked rapidly, trying to wake up, and saw one of those Triceratons standing in front of me. Once he saw that I was awake, he grabbed me by the arm, lifted me and placed me on my feet. I shook my head to wake myself and looked over at Jhanna, who was picked up and thrown over the shoulder of another Triceraton, kicking and screaming. I felt a brutal slap to my back.

"Move! We haven't got all day, you lazy excuse for an alien!" I knew I didn't stand a chance against him, so I decided against putting up a fight and let myself be dragged out of the space ship and into the open. I was lead through a bunch of corridors and every now and then I looked over my shoulder at Jhanna, who was still kicking and screaming and punching to try and get away from the vice-like grip the Triceraton had on her. The Triceraton, who held me by the arm, looked over his own shoulder and smacked Jhanna across the face.

"Shut up, Princess! If you value your life, you should keep your mouth shut and stop fighting against us!" Jhanna glared up at the Triceraton, narrowed her eyes at him and spat in his eye.

"You may be able to kill me, Zog, But you will never break me! Threaten me, hit me, kill me, but you will never break my spirit!" The Triceraton, apparently named Zog, narrowed his eyes at Jhanna and smacked her once again.

"I said shut your mouth, Jhanna!" When Jhanna looked up at Zog again, she spat out blood and a bruise was starting to form on the left side of her face, yet she still looked at the alien with an angry and rebellious glare. Zog ignored her, however, and started to drag me up the hallway again.

We were dragged into a long corridor filled with a bunch of cell doors. I guessed this was the Triceraton prison Jhanna was talking about before. But she said she had heard that this was a gladiator prison as well as an ordinary prison, so where was the gladiator arena? Or wasn't there one? Maybe she had heard wrong.

We stopped in front of one door, and the Triceraton who held Jhanna took out, what I guess was a keycard out of his pocket, and pressed a button on it, unlocking the door and revealing a small cell with two small bunks with thin mattresses and pillows, and nothing else. I was pushed into the cell and Jhanna was thrown in, hitting her head on the edge on one of the bunks, making her yell in pain. She quickly got to her feet though, and she glared up at Zog.

"Wait, where is the Professor? What have you done with him?!" Zog just shook his head with a sinister laugh and took the keycard from his 'friend', smirking at her.

"Yeah, you'd like to know that, wouldn't you? Well, sorry, Princess, but we have to leave you. I hope for your own sake that you and your little buddy are important enough for the Prime Leader to want you two alive." He then pushed another button and the door closed. Jhanna and I threw ourselves at it and tried to escape before the door closed, but instead we slammed into the thick metal. I sighed in frustration and sat down on the bunk, but Jhanna kept throwing herself into the door, as if she thought that she might be able to get through anyway. I just settled to watch her waste her energy until she gave up and sat down on the other bunk as well. I looked over at her, pulled up my legs and sat cross-legged on the mattress.

"You know, I don't know if I should call you brave, or incredibly stupid. I mean, you're practically asking to get killed with that attitude." Jhanna looked at me in surprise, as if she had forgotten about me. Then she frowned at me.

"Hey, at least I'm _trying_ to escape, here! You're letting them push you around like a coward! What, do you think that they're going to let us go, just like that? You're not gonna fight back at all? These guys are evil, been killing aliens that are useless to them, and will not hesitate to do the same with you! And you're not gonna do anything?" I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest.

"I'm trying to be smart, here! We have to come up with a plan here, not just act like unthinking animals! These guys are bigger, stronger and tougher than us- how do you expect us to beat them? By insulting them and act like an idiot in front of them? That's just gonna make them want to kill you even more! We have to be smart." Jhanna rolled her eyes at me and groaned.

"Oh, so I assume that you're just thinking your way through this? That if we just use out brains, then that's gonna save us? Is that how you work, do you always think and never act? Well, I hate to break it to you, but around here, just using your brain and nothing else isn't going to cut it! You need brains as well as brawn and you need to act! Sitting around and planning is fine- and it's a good idea, don't get me wrong- but that's not always gonna work! We have to keep fighting, and never give up!" I glared at her, sat up straight, placing my feet on the floor again.

"Who said anything about me giving up? Nothing's gonna stop me from going home, but going out there and just causing trouble and trying every chance I get to escape without thinking it through, it's not gonna work! We need a plan!" Jhanna glared back at me and looked me straight in the eyes.

"Oh, and until you come up with your 'brilliant plan', you're just gonna act like a _pushover_?!" I was taken aback when she yelled at me and I couldn't think of anything to say. Jhanna took a deep breath through her nose and looked me in the eyes again, but this time she looked a little bit softer.

"Look, Donnie, I understand where you're coming from. I understand that you wanna be logical and rational, that you wanna get out of here alive and this is your best strategy right now, but I'm sorry to say that's not gonna work here. We're in a _prison_ where we're most likely gonna be pushed around, beaten and abused by the other prisoners and the Triceratons. And if we sit around and let them beat us and abuse us, then they're gonna win. We have to fight back and be tough!" I sighed and placed my chin in my hand and rested my elbow on my knee.

"Yeah? Well, I'm not exactly the tough and strong person. And how are we supposed to fight back, really? I mean, what can we do to fight back against this?" Jhanna shrugged and brushed her bangs out of the way, showing a bit more of the scar that graced her face. I wanted to ask her about it, but since she seemed like a tough and reserved girl, I knew she wasn't going to want to talk about it. So I decided to keep quiet, for now anyway.

"I don't know. Not yet. But that's not gonna stop me from trying. My mother used to tell me, 'Life is our own story, and every day a new chapter is written. But it's us who write our own stories-not the people around us. If you don't like your story, rewrite it and start a new and different chapter! Don't let the people around you decide how you should live your life!' I've always taken that to heart, and I think you should, too. I mean, if you let the Triceratons, or the Federation, or anyone for that matter, sit on top of you and walk all over you, then you're letting them win over you! Is that what you want?" I have to admit, I didn't expect this. Jhanna didn't seem like the wise kind of person, but this sounded like something I would hear from Splinter. Hmm, maybe that was the point? Maybe this was some good 'Splinter-wisdom', but from a different mouth?

All my life I've played the role of doormat among my brothers, in one way or another; either by being ignored by my family, sticking to the background or being unappreciated for all my efforts. And for a really, really long time, I had let them do that. I had been a bit too scared to fight back when I was a kid, since both Leo and Raph were stronger than me, and also happened to be my older brothers. And Mikey had me wrapped around his finger; all he had to do was give me the puppy-dog eyes and he could do whatever he wanted to do. And the less I say about April and my relationship with her, the better. Yes, I may be crazy about her and I want her to notice me more, I can't deny that it feels like she's taken advantage of me and my feelings for her, more than once. And whenever I tried to fight back, they would usually win, since I never liked to fight, verbally or physically. Maybe that's why they didn't listen to me, because they're not used to me standing up to them and just chose to ignore me when I did? And I have to admit that I'm sick of being a doormat! Maybe... it was time for a change? Splinter always told me I was strong, smart and resourceful! Maybe it was time to use that to become a warrior, a fighter and a true ninja! And to never let myself be pushed around again! I nodded and smirked to myself in determination and looked to Jhanna, who seemed to be interested by the look on my face, in my eyes.

"You're right! We have to keep fighting! We have to stay strong! And I swear to everybody in this prison, to my family, to you and to myself that I will never be a pushover ever again! I will never be a doormat again!" Jhanna smirked back at me, nodded and fist pumped at me.

"Now that's the spirit! Let's go show those guys who's boss around here!" I nodded and fist pumped at her in return.

"Yeah, and save the Professor!"

* * *

 **A/N: Oh yeah! Determined Donatello, my favorite kind! Now, I may be going on a limb here, since I know that Donnie in the 2k12 cartoon can stand up for himself, but honestly? He does it so rarely! And whenever he does stand up for himself, a lot of times it seems like it doesn't lead to anything. *Cough* Fourfold trap *Cough* And since we don't know how the turtles interacted as kids, I thought it might be a good idea to experiment with that a bit too. And in this story I wanted Donnie to want and push himself to become a better warrior and become stronger!**


	12. Chapter 11, Welcome to Hell!

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Woo-hoo! I'm on a roll this week! A new chapter is already up, and I hope to have one up this weekend too! And we're still in the Triceraton Prison, and Donnie had decided to become stronger and won't let himself get pushed around or walked over like a doormat. Sounds like a smart decision to me!**

 **Now, I hope that you're looking forward to 'new' characters, cause new characters are coming! And just a heads up, I am not going to follow the 2k12's canon, since first of all, we haven't seen enough of the characters to know their personality yet, and second, I wanted to give them my own spin on them! So no hate for making them different, okay!**

 **Hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 11, Welcome to Hell!

Well, so far this escape had proven to be rather unsuccessful. I had been separated from my friends, captured by my planet's sworn enemies, and I had no idea of what had become of my two companions. At the moment I was being lead through a corridor towards Prime Leader Zanramon's chambers and I knew that they wanted the teleportal for themselves. Most likely as weapon, just like the Federation do. But what was I supposed to do now? How could I escape from here without the help of my friends?

The doors to the Prime Leader's room opened, and I was lead rather forcefully by two Triceraton guards. In a big throne sat Zanramon, waiting for us to come close enough to him. Zanramon was a short, stocky Triceraton and was rather small; well, at least compared to the other Triceratons that I had seen- barely reaching up to the shoulders of the other Triceratons in the room. He wasn't very strong or intelligent, but he had all these Triceratons in the palm of his hand and his word was law. Although how he had received that position was a total mystery to me.

"Ah, Professor Honeycutt! It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I hope that my soldiers have treated you well on your trip." His smile made me feel uneasy and because he sounded so nice, I knew he was going to turn out to be bad news. I nodded slowly and rubbed my arm absentmindedly.

"Yes, Prime Leader." I lied. They had, of course, been rough and not all that careful with me. But I had to play my cards right, or I would end up in trouble. Zanramon smirked at me with sinister eyes, rested his elbows on the desk in front of him and intertwined his fingers, looking me in the eyes.

"Let's get straight to the point, shall we? We have proof from a reliable source that you have an invention that could be used as a weap-I mean, to teleport one thing or being from one place to another. Is that correct?" I gulped. Or at least I would if I was human and could swallow. But I nodded anyway and twiddled my thumbs behind my back. Zanramon's smirk grew wider and stood up from his chair and walked over to a window, looking out over space and the planets, the stars and the space ships outside.

"Well, as you may know, we have a bit of a rivalry with your people, and we've had a rocky relationship for the last few centuries. But if you build the Teleportal for us, without any fuss or fighting, we will overlook out past with the Federation and move on with our own lives. And we will make sure to let you live on a planet where you don't have to worry about being hunted by soldiers or other aliens. What do you say?" I thought it over. I knew that they were lying, and that they would most likely stab me in the back. But what would they do if I said no? I took a deep breath and looked up at Zanramon.

"I... I appreciate the offer, but I designed the Teleportal as a means to spread peace and harmony throughout the galaxy, and I don't know if I can trust you with it. I don't know for sure if you'll really use it for the right reasons. I'm sorry, but I can't build it." The Triceratons gasped at me, then looked at Zanramon with fear in their eyes, but he didn't seem that surprised by my answer. He just walked over to the desk again and smirked at me like he knew something that I didn't.

"Oh, is that so? You won't build it, even to save these creatures?" He pressed a button and a display appeared over the desk, showing both Jhanna and Donatello in a small, locked room. Another Triceraton appeared on the screen and looked up at Zanramon.

"Prime Leader Zanramon, we found these two with the Fugitoid on D'hoonib! What do you want us to do with them?" I gasped and walked up to up the display, looking at my friends.

"No, please, don't hurt them! Please, I beg you!" Zanramon had me wrapped around his finger, I knew that, but I couldn't help it. I didn't want them to hurt my friends. The Prime Leader shrugged.

"As you wish." He pushed another button and talked into a small microphone. "Lock them in the Prison, but keep them alive. For now, anyway. Our friend, Professor Honeycutt, wants to keep his friends alive." The other Triceraton answered with a salute and the screen disappeared again. Zanramon intertwined his fingers again, and his smirk had been wiped off his face now.

"Let's skip the negotiations, I'll just put it to you this way. I'll give you three days; if you don't build the teleportal or give us the blueprints for it by then, your friends will be executed!" I gasped sharply and was then lead out of the room and to a lab. I was shoved in and one of the Triceratons sneered down at me.

"You'll stay here until you have made your choice! We'll check in with you every hour. Happy thinking!" He laughed and then closed the door behind him, locking it. I sighed and buried my face in my hands. What had I gotten myself- and my friends!- into?

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(Donnie's P.O.V)

The next day Jhanna and I were rudely awakened by the prison guards, and we were told to get up and go the 'dining area' where we would have breakfast. Seeing how this place didn't seem like a five star hotel (or even a one star hotel, for that matter) I figured the food would be pretty bad, but what to do? I had to eat in order to live for another day. So Jhanna and I followed the other aliens down the hallway. I looked around at the other aliens, and just like on D'hoonib, all these creatures looked different from each other in every way possible. Hmm, go figure.

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't look where I was going, and I walked straight into the alien in front of me; a big, fleshy alien with orange skin and red, beady eyes glaring down at me with anger and annoyance.

"Hey! Watch where you're going, kid!" I took a step back and held up my hands, trying to calm him down. I know I had promised myself to change and be stronger, but that didn't mean I had to cause fights with other aliens in this place!

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't see you there, are you okay?" I tried to sound nice, but it was clear that this alien was ticked off, and he shoved me back, making me almost fall to the floor.

"Oh, aren't you just adorable? Trying to be all nice and sweet in this place, are ya? Well, you should learn your place in this cellblock, and here I'm the boss! Got it, freak?" The rational side of me told me to ignore him and keep walking, but I had made a vow to myself to stand up for myself and fight back, and that's just what I intended to do! So I glared back at the alien and shoved my finger into his chest, inwardly cringing at how squishy to the touch he was.

"Hey! Who are you calling adorable? Or a freak, for that matter? You're just a big lump of flesh; I wouldn't call you all that fantastic or magnificent!" The alien growled at me and raised his fist, ready to punch, and I got ready to dodge and attack again, but we were interrupted before the fight could start.

"Rynokk, that's enough!" We looked up, and my jaw hit the floor. I saw a tall, lean and muscular Triceraton glared down at the both of us, but mostly at the alien he called Rynokk, who cowered slightly under his eyes. "Do you always have to pick on aliens that are smaller than you? Have you no dignity or honor?" Rynokk just sneered at the Triceraton and rolled his eyes him.

"Mind your own business, Traximus, nobody asked you about your opinion! And besides, nobody cares about honor or dignity! Nowadays, it's every alien for himself and he has to fight to stay alive; that's the way it's supposed to be!" He shoved me and then kept walking. I looked up at the Triceraton, Traximus, who looked down on me with critical eyes and a raised eyebrow. I was surprised to say the least that there was a Triceraton in this prison. They put their own kind in their own prisons? However, he had helped me, so I tried to smile at him in thanks.

"Uh, thank you for the help." He just shrugged, so slightly you could barely see it, and then he kept walking down the corridor. Jhanna, who had stayed in the background this whole time, walked up to me, shoved me playfully and looked at me- slightly more impressed than last night.

"See? That wasn't so hard, now, was it? You don't have to pick a fight, you just have to show that you're not gonna let them push you around! Now, come on. Let's go eat!" We kept walking and arrived at the dining hall. It wasn't much to see, it was just about forty tables with aliens sitting at most of them. Jhanna and I got in line and recieved food from a disinterested Triceraton, walked over to a table and sat ourselves down. I looked down at the food, and immediately had to swallow so I wouldn't vomit. The food (if you could even call it that) was just a big yellow and green mush that smelled like puke, and I could swear that I saw hair in there, too! Jhanna also wrinkled her nose at it, but still lifted her spoon, scooped up some of the disgusting mush and shoved it into her mouth, cringing as she swallowed and then gagging loudly once it was down.

"Ugh, this is just nasty! The things I do for survival..." She muttered and scooped up some more of the gunk, continuing to eat. I looked down at the mush and decided not to be worse than Jhanna; I scooped some of it up onto my own spoon and lifted it to my mouth. The smell was gagging me and I felt ready to throw up, but before I could think of putting the spoon down again, I shoved it into my mouth and had to clench my jaw so I couldn't spit it out. It tasted like moldy cheese, actual puke, worms, algae, and Mikey's pizza shake all combined into one! My stomach was screaming at me to stop eating and I was sure that I was going to faint because of the taste. I gagged and tried not to spit it out as I finally swallowed, and then looked up at Jhanna while lifting more goo to my mouth.

"Tell me about it." I muttered and swallowed down some more, cringing at the taste and placing my hand over my mouth to keep myself from vomiting it back up again. I was about to shove some more into my mouth when the sound of loud voices and taunts got my attention. I put the spoon down, turned around to look over my shoulder and saw a group of four aliens apparently picking on someone a lot smaller than them. I recognized one of them as Rynokk, but none of the others looked familiar. I sneered at them, looked over at Jhanna who had also noticed them by now, and then looked back at Rynokk and his 'friends'.

"Four against one? Don't they have any honor at all?" Jhanna nodded slowly, then lifted her spoon again, swallowing down some of that goop, cringing wildly at the taste and then looking up at me.

"Yeah, well, just ignore them, Donnie. They're not worth the energy. Just let them have their fun, they'll get sick of it soon enough." Wait, what? I turned to Jhanna with wide, unbelieving eyes, but she didn't even look at me. She just kept on eating and ignored the aliens fighting eyes glued to her plate. Then she seemed to sense my eyes on her and finally looked up at me, looked surprised before shrugging.

"What?" I couldn't believe it. Back on D'hoonib I could understand that she thought it was too risky to save all those other aliens since we had to get the Professor to safety; but here, a bunch of bigger aliens were picking on one smaller alien, who obviously couldn't fight back, and she didn't want to do anything? I looked at her incredulously and pointed at the aliens with my thumb.

"Are you serious? They're picking on someone smaller than them who can't fight back! Don't you think we should try to help? I mean, if we don't we'll be just as bad as anyone else in this place- criminals!" Jhanna just shrugged again, ate some more goop and then looked up again.

"Look, I told you before: it's an alien-eat-alien world out there. It's every organism for themselves in this world- so sit down, eat your food and shut up!" She turned back to her plate, and I tried to follow her example and ignore the aliens, but everything in me told me I had to go and help. But then, I heard a particularly alarming exchange between Rynokk and his victim.

"Well, whaddaya say, boys? Doesn't this one look hot or what? Think she's got a chance to survive around here? You know, I could use a bit of fun in this place."

"No, please, leave me alone! Please, I'm begging you!" I tensed, dropped my spoon and my eyes got wide. They were picking on a girl? Four guys picking on a smaller and weaker guy is bad enough, but a girl? And what did he mean with 'a bit of fun'? I had a feeling I knew, and I wasn't about to let that happen.

I had a quick flashback to that first night my brothers and I went topside, and we saw April and her father get attacked my the Kraang. Leo had said we shouldn't get involved, but I had defied him. Well, okay partly I had done it because I thought that April was pretty and I started to develop a crush on her, but another part of me told me I had to defend those who couldn't fight back themselves. I don't know, maybe it was because I had never really fought back against my brothers when I was little, but still, I fought to defend not offend. Also, that Traximus had defended me against Rynokk, even though he knew nothing about me, so why shouldn't I do the same? So I pushed away my plate, stood up and clenched my hands.

"Okay, that's it!" I walked over to the group with angry eyes and got ready to battle, in case they wanted to fight. "Hey!"

Everybody in the dining area looked up from whatever they were doing and looked over at us, but especially Rynokk and his friends. "Well, aren't you guys just a bunch of strong, noble warriors, picking on somebody smaller than you? Why don't you pick on somebody your own size?" It was easy to see that Rynokk was uncertain of what to do. He obviously wasn't used to people standing up to him. But he tried to look tough and angry, raising his fists and getting ready to fight.

"What are you gonna do, kid? There's four of us and one of you! You won't stand a chance!" He smirked while his friends laughed behind him.

I smirked back and, as quickly as I could, punched Rynokk in the face. Everyone in the room gasped in fear, surprise and awe. Even Rynokk didn't seem to understand what had just happened, placing his hand over his face and rubbing his cheek. Then he glared down at me, and I got into a defensive stance and readied my body to fight.

"Want some more? Come get some." Rynokk growled, lifted his fist and got ready to hit me, but I slapped his hand away and kicked him in the chest, sending him into the wall and cracking it due to his weight. Aliens started to get closer to us, I guess to see the fight, and started to chant their demand for one. Rynokk's friends slipped away and suddenly, he didn't look as tough as he had a few seconds ago. I guess he was all talk and no action.

"What's the matter, tough guy? Is a little kid too much for you to handle?" I heard someone in the crowd yell from behind me, and for a second, I felt a little sorry for the guy. But still, he was a jerk and obviously didn't have any morals. He stood up slowly, his pride obviously damaged, and glared at me.

"This isn't over, you little brat!" He pushed his way through the crowd, trying to ignore the laughs and taunts that were thrown at him. I smirked after him, ignoring the pity I had felt for him, and yelled after him.

"Oh yeah? Well, if you're gonna pick on aliens who are smaller than you, then you'll have get through me first, you big bully!" I turned around to see his victim and what I found was a really sad sight. On the floor was a small green alien, standing on her knees with four fingers and toes on each hand and foot, a yellow belly and a long tail; she looked like a lizard of sorts. Only she had brown hair down to her waist, turquoise eyes filled with fear, and tears all over her face. I slowly got down to one knee and reached out my hand for her, but she immediately cowered back in fear, her hair falling in front of her face, almost covering it, making her look like a trapped and desperate animal. Terrified and distrustful. She thought I was going to hurt her, like those other guys had. I looked her straight in the eyes, had my hand reached out for her and tried to look honest.

"It's okay. Don't be scared, I'm not going to hurt you." She looked at me with less fear and more suspicion, with narrowed eyes and a raised eyebrow; she kept her arms and hands close to herself, like she was afraid I was gonna force her to grab my hand. I lowered my hand and settled for looking her in the eyes.

"You don't have to be afraid, I promise you, I don't bite." I tried to sound a bit funny, and it seemed to work. A smile tugged on her lips, and she slowly reached out her hand this time. I grabbed it and slowly helped her up to her feet. She stumbled at first, but she managed to find her balance and stood without any problems. I carefully placed my hand on her shoulder, making her jump in surprise, but she calmed down quickly and looked up at me.

"Are you gonna be okay, Miss? Do you need any help?" She shook her head, smiled up at me and played a little with her long hair.

"No, thank you." She whispered and looked up at me through her bangs, looking grateful, bashful and a little humiliated. She smiled, though, then looked down at the floor for a second before she looked up at me again and twirled a string of hair around her finger.

"Thank you." She whispered, although a little louder this time, before she picked up the bowl of food that she had probably dropped on the floor when she got surrounded by those guys, and started to clean up the mess. I bent down to help her, but she held up her hand and shook her head.

"No! No, thank you, I can do this myself." She wasn't whispering at the moment and spoke with a bit more confidence this time around. I nodded slowly, picked up the spoon and gave it to her. She smiled in thanks and then looked back down at the mess.

"Are you new?" She asked, looking at me through her hair. I nodded, and she nodded back. "Figures. Nobody who's been here for a long time would ever stand up to Rynokk. He's sorta the unofficial ruler around here. Well, except for Traximus, of course, but he's earned the respect he has around here." She had finished cleaning up and stood up. She smiled at me and brushed her bangs out of her face.

"What's your name, anyway? And where are you from?" I smiled bitterly when she asked me where I came from. I didn't want to talk about Earth, or anything about where I came from at the moment, especially with a stranger, but I had to. I couldn't be rude to her since I had helped her.

"My name is Donatello. I come from a small planet called Earth- I don't think you've heard of it." She nodded.

"Well, I'm Mona Lisa, I'm a Salamandarian from the planet Filione, a forest planet far away from here." She suddenly looked a little downcast for a second. Then she looked up again and smiled at me. "Anyway, thank you for helping me before and..." She trailed off for a second. "Well, welcome to Hell!" She said at last, then turned around and walked away. I shrugged slightly and walked back to the table. Jhanna was still sitting there and had seen everything that had happened. She looked up at me with critical eyes, but also with a little admiration. Very little, but still more than before.

"Well, that happened. And you said that _I'm_ stupid." I frowned at her and placed my hands at my sides. This girl was good at insulting me, and I had a feeling she enjoyed it. Also, she was hard to figure out since yesterday night she had been trying to help me in a way, and now she was her usual cold and reserved self.

"What do you mean, I'm stupid? I was trying to help a girl who couldn't fight back against four bigger bullies, how is that stupid? How is trying to be a good person stupid?" Jhanna played with her spoon and glanced over at Mona Lisa, who was now sitting down at another table.

"Well, if that girl can't fight for herself, then maybe she shouldn't be in this place- or even in this world. It's survival of the fittest, after all." I just shook my head at her, forced the last of that disgusting goo down my throat, stood up walked over to the dish station where another disinterested Triceraton stood and washed the dishes. After I had left my plate and spoon there and I started to wonder what I was supposed to do now, a loud gong was heard throughout the room and everybody looked up, most in fear or irritation. A new Triceraton, a slightly shorter and fatter one than the ones I had seen up until now, looked out over the dining area and had a gong in his hand.

"Listen up, you morons! Breakfast hour is done; now move, you all know where to go! All fresh meat, come with me!" Jhanna and I started to follow him, along with a bunch of other aliens. I looked at them all, trying to see if anyone might be friendly-ish. But no, none of them looked all that friendly; but then again, this was a prison, so I guess many of them were criminals and not nice people.

We were led into a corridor and up to a small storage closet filled with cleaning appliances. He shoved a bucket, some soap, and a mop into my arms and pushed me towards a faucet inside the small room.

"Fill this up, you little troublemaker! And don't think I didn't see the uproar you caused at breakfast earlier! I'll keep my eyes on you, alien scum." I glared up at him and tried to look as tough as Raph usually did when confronted by an enemy.

"Hey! Who are you calling alien? And besides, it's not like you can do anything to us! Your Prime Leader wants me and my friend _alive_ , remember?" The Triceraton smacked across the face and I fell to the floor with a yell of pain. I sat up, rubbed my cheek and glared up at him with defiant and angry eyes.

"I can make you wish you weren't, freak. Keep that in mind the next time you wanna start a fight! Now, get up and get to work, whippersnapper!" I had to bite myself so I wouldn't snap back at him, stood up from the floor and I obeyed and started to fill up the bucket with warm water. Jhanna was told to take a broom, but as she walked into the storage to grab it, she leaned close to me for a second and smirked.

"You know, for somebody who wanted to lay low for the time being, you sure know how to make a name for yourself." I glared at her and she just shrugged and walked out again. I shut off the water, picked up the mop that I leaned against the wall and walked out to the Triceraton in charge. He led us back to the dining hall and gestured out over the room.

"I'll be back in on hour, and by that time I want this room to be spotless! Is that understood, you bunch of freaks?" We all said that we understood and he left again. I looked down at the floor and grimaced. It was covered in dropped food, dust, dirt stains and- was that blood? I shook my head, gagged in disgust and started to work. Jhanna had started sweep the floors over at the tables, so I decided to stay close and tidy up after where she had swept. And as we worked, Mona Lisa's words popped up in my head again. 'Welcome to Hell'. Yeah, maybe that was a pretty good description.

"Humph, yeah. Welcome to Hell, indeed." I muttered to myself, wet the mop again and kept cleaning.

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 **A/N: Well, I gave you a chapter a few days earlier this time, and i've had a lot to do this week, so I hope you're happy for it! Now, don't expect two chapters every week or even this early in the week, I don't think I can pull that off.**

 **And yes, I know not a lot happened in this chapter, but hey, can't expect those epic fights and big things every chapter, right? Hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	13. Chapter 12, Lowering defences and regret

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: New chapter!** **Sorry for the late update, but I've had a lot of things to do lately. Like, I've moved into a new room and for now, has slightly shaky wifi, so I'll try to update as good as I can with this current wifi situation.**

 **Also, I hate to sound like I'm doing this only for the reviews, but I've noticed that not that many people seems to be reading my stories anymore. No reviews, very few people who favorite or follow and I just hope that I'm still good at writing and that my story is uninteresting and not worth reading anymore. If it is, please tell me what you want me to do in order to improve it.**

 **I hope you'll like this chapter and _please_ review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 12, Lowering defences and regret

The room was rather quiet, except for grunts or groans from varying aliens as they cleaned their assigned areas. I tried not to complain, since it wouldn't help anyone in the slightest, but it was hard since cleaning this place was both boring and quite a chore. Seriously, how often did they clean these floors? It was covered in dried food, blood, and dirt, and it looked like it hadn't been cleaned in months. If I ever got back home again, I would never complain about how the sewer smelled or how dirty it was ever again. Compared to this, it was a paradise.

Jhanna was sweeping the floor with a frown on her face, like she was restraining her anger and frustration as well as she could. And, I have to admit, I could sympathize. This wasn't exactly my idea of a good time, but what could we do? We had to follow orders or we would only get in more trouble. As I tried to clean a spot of particularly stubborn and crusty blood, I felt someone halfheartedly punch my shoulder to gain my attention.

"So, what _is_ your plan, anyway?" I looked up and saw that Jhanna had approached me, one hand on her hip and the broom in the other. She looked both tired and slightly angry, or at least a bit moody. I put the mop back down in the bucket, turned to Jhanna and folded my arms over my chest.

" _What_? What do you mean, what is my plan? In case you couldn't tell, I'm kinda making things up as I go along at this point! I don't know how this place works or even the security, for that matter. I can't come up with an escape plan when I've only been here for half a day." Jhanna shook her head, dropped the broom and pushed her finger into my chest. I couldn't tell if she was angry, curious, or both, but she clearly had some interest in something about me.

"No! I mean, what's going on in your head right now? So far you've done nothing but pick fights with some nasty people and care about complete strangers who can't take care of themselves! You haven't exactly been laying low, which- need I remind you- was _your_ _idea_!" I narrowed my eyes at her and poked her chest in annoyance.

"And need I remind _you_ that it was _your_ idea to be the tough guy? _You_ said we had to fight back and not let ourselves be pushed around, and _you_ said that we shouldn't let the Triceratons sit on top of us! Can't you just make up your mind on what you think we should do?" Jhanna rolled her eyes, blew her bangs out of her face and glared up at me.

"Yeah, if they tried to push us around! But so far, no one except Rynokk has picked a fight with you, and you've stuck your nose into things that aren't your business, like the fight with that little Salamandarian girl from before. How smart was THAT?" I grabbed my mop, lifted it out of the bucket and squeezed out some of the water. Then I met Jhanna's eyes again.

"Well, that's how I've been raised. I was taught to defend those who can't defend themselves and to do the right thing, no matter what happens or what the odds are. My father taught me about honor, justice, truth, and fighting for the right reasons. So I did: I helped a girl who couldn't defend herself against four bigger aliens, 'cause it was the right thing to do. And as for the plan, I'm working on it; I bet I'll even have it done by tomorrow- you'll see! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a floor to clean." I turned my back on her and started to swab the floor again... And instantly regretted the motion, as I accidentally plunged my mop directly into a pile of what appeared to be something similar to feces. I heard her scoff at me and I had a pretty good feeling that she was rolling her eyes. I looked around and tried to see anything that could possibly aid in our escape- anything at all that could be useful.

I saw an air vent about ten feet above the floor, big enough for the two of us to squeeze through. But where did it lead? I would have to figure that out. It might be useful. I guess we could try to sneak out through the sewers (if there were any), but again, where would the sewers would lead us? Grrr! What would be the better choice? Hm, maybe Mona Lisa would be able to give me some information. Or maybe I could-

"Are you freaks not done yet?!" I was brought out of my thoughts as I heard a door slide open. That Triceraton, and his two pals from before, were back. He looked out over us with stern and angry eyes and his arms crossed over his chest. I scanned over the other aliens and saw that they looked either scared or defiant. Jhanna had her arms crossed over her chest, glaring at him through her tousled bangs with fiery eyes, and pressed her lips together. In a way, she looked like a disobedient child. The Triceraton walked a few feet into the room, then looked at me.

"Hmm… I hope you don't plan to cause any more problem for us, you little brat! I'll be watching you; every day I will be watching you. And your little friend, too!" I scowled up at the creature and gripped the broom a little tighter in my hand, feeling my nails dig into my palms.

"Master Gruel, what do you want us to do with the prisoners? Take them back to their cells, torture, The Arena?" One of the other Triceratons asked. 'Gruel'? Okay, what the heck was up with these names? Although, to be fair, that name fit him pretty well.

The way that other Triceraton had said 'The Arena' made me quiver slightly. Something told me that the absolute worst thing they could do to us was take us to that place. Jhanna looked up from the floor and at the Triceraton who had spoken, confusion in her eyes.

"The Arena? What the heck is The Arena?" Gruel turned to her with a hefty glare, leaned down so he could look her in the eye, and smirked sadistically at her.

"Pray that you'll never find out, Princess. You would never survive in that place, anyway. After all, you're just a little girl. _A_ _child_. Besides," He stood up straight again, "everyone knows that women can't fight for themselves." The other Triceratons started to laugh loudly. Jhanna, however, growled in predictable anger, her left eye twitching. She clutched her broom tightly in her hand. Then, so fast it was a bit hard to see clearly, she smacked her broom across Gruel's face, making the Triceraton stumble and almost fall to the floor and (I'm really not kidding here) spit out a big, yellow-brownish tooth, leaving all Triceratons and aliens flabbergasted. Jhanna just smirked cockily at him and placed her hand on her hip.

"Did you say something? Something about women not being able to fight, huh? And don't you ever call me Princess, you big smelly, ugly, rotten, _sexist pig son of a b_ ,-!" She was interrupted by a sharp slap from Gruel that made her fall to the floor with a soft thud and a yelp of pain and surprise. The slap left a huge bruise and she spat out a little blood as she stared up from the floor with hate-filled eyes. Gruel stood over her angrily.

"You'd better watch your tongue, missy. It might get you into even bigger trouble one of these days." I watched the whole scene as a nasty flavor filled my mouth. Jhanna may not exactly be my favorite person, but we were currently partners in crime, working together toward a common goal, and had decided to try and get along a bit better as well. Plus, she was undeserving of such violent punishment- she had just been trying to fight back against an alien that insulted her. And hitting someone that much smaller and (for lack of a better word) weaker than you was just wrong in so many ways. Gruel approached her with a wicked smirk and a raised hand, as if he was ready to strike once more.

"Now, I think you need to learn some respect. I think I'll have to smack some into you." My fists clenched and my eyes narrowed. That's it. I couldn't stand to watch any more of this. I raised my mop, braced my legs, and struck. I slammed my temporary bo staff against his head, jump-kicked his jaw midair, and then smacked the mop against his head again- this time so hard that the tool broke straight down the middle, the other part falling to the floor with a soft squish as the wet, soft material landed. This time, Gruel actually hit the ground and almost lost consciousness. I glared down at him, slung the remaining stick- formerly a mop- over my shoulder, and tried to look tough.

"Hey! Don't you big _freaks_ have better things to do than to beat up aliens smaller and weaker than you? Don't you have any sense of honor at all, you prehistoric leftovers? Besides, haven't you ever learned that it's rude to hit girls? If you mess with her, you mess with me- got it? So _stay away from her_!" Jhanna looked a bit offended when I said it was rude to hit girls, but her glare softened a bit by the end of my declaration, like she was confused and somewhat touched by my words.

No one in the room dared to make a sound; not the prisoners, not the guards. Even the air seemed quiet. Gruel tried to shake it all off and stood up on slightly shaky legs glaring at us- we made an odd pair, Jhanna and I, and really must have been quite the sight.

"I will give you two _one_ last chance. If you cause any more trouble around here, it's off to The Arena with both of you. Is that understood?" I just rolled my eyes at him, but still nodded halfheartedly in acquiescence. Jhanna just stood up slowly, crossed her arms over her chest defensively, and nodded slowly.

Gruel turned to me and raised his hand, and for a second I thought he was gonna hit me, so I got ready to defend myself; but he only grabbed me by the strap over my chest and pulled me up to his face so he could look me straight in the eyes.

"And as for _you_ , you rebellious little brat: you've got a lot of attitude and guts for somebody so small. That could get you into trouble if you keep up the feistiness. But don't worry, I'll be sure to beat that feisty attitude out of you before you know it." He pulled me closer to his face, making me cringe at the smell coming from his mouth, and whispered in my ear. "Whether you like it or not." I glared up at him as he pulled me back a bit, and fought against the urge to spit in his eyes.

"You can always try, Lard Butt, but I can tell you right now: I'm not gonna make it easy for you." Gruel just smirked ominously at me, which wasn't the reaction I had expected, and leaned closer to my ear, whispering,

"We'll see about that, won't we?"

And with that, he dropped me. When I hit the floor, I landed slightly off-kilter and I immediately felt my right ankle crack; but I bit my lip to hold back a yell of pain, and instead hissed while clutching my ankle as it throbbed unbearably.

Suddenly Jhanna stood in above me, and I looked up at her in suspicion. She tried to smile, though it seemed a bit forced and slightly awkward, and reached out her hand for me to grab. I hesitated for a second; this girl hadn't exactly been consistent with her behavior towards me, and she hadn't been very friendly, now that I think about it. But she _was_ trying to help me, here, so maybe I should accept her help. I slowly grabbed her hand and she helped me get back up on my feet. Or maybe I should say _foot_ , seeing as how my right ankle was (at the very least) sprained. Jhanna saw how I limped slightly and placed my arm around her shoulders and her arm around my shell to keep me upright.

"Are you okay?" I bit my lip and nodded, though I knew it looked reluctant.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine… But I think my ankle is sprained. I'll be fine, though, if I rest it a bit." She nodded and helped me walk over to a table and sit down. Gruel watched us, summoned one of the guards that had followed him and pointed at us.

"Get those two back in their cells. I don't want them to cause any more trouble than they have already." The Triceraton nodded, grabbed us by the arms and started to drag us towards our cell. I tried to keep up, but my ankle and the quick pace made it nearly impossible to do so. And it certainly didn't help that the Triceraton wasn't all that sympathetic, actually making a point of walking faster and faster each time I grunted at the sharp pains shooting up my leg as I struggled to remain on my feet. By the time we reached the halfway point, he was practically dragging me as I finally managed to trip on my own feet and couldn't seem to recover any traction on the tiled floors.

When we finally got to our cell, the guard just threw me inside as if he was taking out the garbage, ignoring the fact that I landed on my injured foot and my subsequent squawk of pain. Jhanna reacted immediately.

"Hey! Leave him _alone_! Can't you see he's hurt?" But he didn't listen, instead opting to fling her into the cell before slamming the door behind her. Jhanna glared at the door, spat at it and then turned to me with a softer expression. I sat up and rubbed my ankle, and she knelt down beside me and placed her hand on my shoulder.

"Are you okay?" I nodded. My ankle hurt, yes, but now that I could relax and look over the injury I could tell that it was nothing more than a small crack in the bone at most. Nothing to worry about; after all, I was _Raphael's_ brother. I could just walk it off, easy. I looked up at her and tried to smile through the pain.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's not too bad, I can walk it off and I'll be fine by tomorrow. Thanks for standing up for me before, by the way. You didn't have to, though." Jhanna bit her lip, shrugged and tilted her head from side to side. She looked down at the floor and played a little with her fingers. When her eyes finally met mine, there was a new look in them. A humble, slightly remorseful, look. That was certainly a welcomed surprise from her.

"Well, you helped me when Gruel was about to attack me and I was down. I had to help you in some way, right? I mean, it only seemed fair." She then raised her eyebrow at me and looked more confused this time. "But why _did_ you help me? I haven't exactly been that helpful or friendly, so why?" The way she said that- the tone of her voice and the choice of words- made me stop and think. It sounded like she was surprised and, in a way, a bit flabbergasted. Hmm, maybe there was a legitimate reason behind her being cold and reserved.

I smiled and placed my large hand on her skinny shoulder, and she looked up in surprise.

"Well, like I said. My father taught me everything I know about fighting, how and why to fight. He has always told my brothers and I to fight for the right reasons, to defend and to help those who need it. We never fight to hurt people- we fight to help people." Jhanna looked up at me, clearly still befuddled.

"But do you have any _reason_ to? Why don't you just let those people deal with their own problems and focus on dealing with your own? That's what every alien on my planet does- they deal with their own problems and don't care about other people as long as they don't get themselves into trouble with my father." I hadn't quite thought about that before. Splinter had always taught the four of us to defend others, and those many years of being raised into those teachings had paid off in the form of defending others being more of a base instinct than an actual conscious decision for us.

"Because that's how we were raised. Our father was a ninja- a warrior on my planet- and fought for the good of his fellow people. But then he lost everything because his own brother was jealous of what he had- he lost his wife, his child, his home. His story inspired us to do the same, to fight for the good of others, but to also seek justice where justice is deserved. Hah, it all boils down to nature vs. nurture." Jhanna raised her hands in a 'hold it' way.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down. 'Us'? There are _more_ warriors like you other than your father?" I involuntary gasped and felt small tears form in my eyes. It had been hard enough to talk about my father, who had done me no direct wrong. But my brothers? Oh, why couldn't I have kept my big trap _shut_? I took a deep, slightly shaky, breath. It was difficult to make and maintain eye contact with her, but somehow I managed to.

"Yeah, there are. There's me, my father… and my brothers." Apparently Jhanna heard the sadness in my voice and leaned closer to me in a rare display of compassion, but what I appreciated more than that was the look in her eyes that acknowledged that she was walking on thin ice when she pushed the topic further, and subsequently looked ready to accept any refusal I might give.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hit a nerve." I nodded and wiped my hand across my eyes, fighting back tears the best I could.

"Yeah, I know. It's just... Look, Jhanna, I can't really talk about it right now." She nodded in acceptance, as I had expected and was quite grateful for, and moved away from me slightly. We sat there on the floor for a while, with me trying to fight back my tears and Jhanna looking rather awkwardly at me while trying to disguise the fact that she was totally staring. After a few minutes Jhanna stood up and sat on her bunk.

"I'll… Uh… I'll take a little nap. So, y-you know, you might wanna keep it down. N-not that you'll be that loud, but… you know..." I nodded and watched her lie down on the mattress and eventually fall asleep. I climbed up on my own bunk, leaned back against the wall and gathered up my legs in my arms. After that, the floodgates burst open and the tears that I had so valiantly tried to fight now cascaded down my cheeks.

My brothers… my family… my _everything_. They were all back home… And… And the last thing I had said to them was 'I hate you'. What kind of heartless monster did that make me? What did that make _them_? The thoughts made my heart hurt so very much. I missed them- neglect, rudeness and all.

Did they miss me?

While I had been cleaning the floor earlier, I had had a lot of time to think about that argument we had before we had gone to fight the Kraang. And I have to say; I don't think I've ever felt this ashamed in my life.

I had been mistreated and unappreciated, sure. But I had also acted like a three-year-old child who tried to force his family to listen to him without ever thinking about their point of view or what they had to say. Instead of yelling and screaming like I did, I should have been calm and collected, I should have listened to the others. And I really shouldn't have brought the whole thing up just before we went on patrol. I had acted like a spoiled, ungrateful, disrespectful _brat_. Really, I wouldn't blame my family if they actually were happy that I was gone, now. Finally, they wouldn't have to deal with me.

But no matter how much I tried to convince myself that they would be justified in feeling that way, just the thought of their rejoicing my absence was enough to nearly shove me over the edge. If they were glad I was gone, I had no reason to continue this journey. Why work so hard to return to a family that doesn't want me?

More tears filled my eyes and I bit back a howl of despair. As I raised my arm to dry my face, I felt something small and hard in my belt and reached down to check what it was. My probing fingers found my T-Phone, which I had completely forgotten about. In fact, I had been certain that it had been destroyed in the portal that ripped me from my family. I looked it over and saw that it was, miraculously, still intact.

With shaking fingers I typed in my passcode and unlocked it, and the first thing that met my eyes was a picture of my brothers and I. Leo was holding the phone and wearing a big smile; Raph stood beside him with a smug smirk- he had placed two fingers behind Leo's head, making it look like he had bunny ears. Mikey smiled into the camera, trying to look cool while making a peace sign with his fingers. I stood behind them, in between Raph and Mikey, with my arms around their shoulders and a small smile on my face.

As I looked at the picture I felt myself tear up again. This was a picture we had taken a few weeks after we had taken down that Kraang invasion a few months back when we had no enemies at the time and no troubles. Just the four of us, having a good time and with no worries at all. More tears started to fall down my cheeks as I stroked the picture with my thumb and started to sob out loud.

Because those smiling faces held nothing less than love, a deep, brotherly love radiating from every pore. Those were the faces of three brothers who loved the fourth one just as much as he unconditionally and endlessly loved them. Words could be fabricated, could easily convey a lie; but pictures, as they say, are worth a thousand words. You can't fake genuine emotion, and you can't pretend to look loving for the camera. Well, you can always try… but in the end, anyone who views the photo can just _tell_ what emotions lie right underneath the forced love.

"I... I'm sorry, guys. I… I never meant to say that I hate you! I don't, I really _don't_ , I _love_ you. And I miss you. So, _so_ much. I wish I were home again, or at least that you were here with me! I love and miss you so much right now!" I dropped the phone, lay down on the bunk and just cried into my pillow, hoping that Jhanna wouldn't be woken up by my private grief.

And eventually, I cried myself to sleep.

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 **A/N: And it's finally done!**

 **So, today the episode with Mona Lisa came out, and I don't think I will make her or her people quite like they were portrayed in this episode, but I will make Mona Lisa at least a little bit like she was in the episode. Strong, honorbound, smart, a capable fighter and also quick on her feet. Just so you know.**

 **I hope you liked the chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**


	14. Chapter 13, Rebellion behind enemy lines

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Yay! New update! Get ready for some feels! Well, a little anyway. And, yay the Federation is still part of the story!**

 **Hope you'll like this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

* * *

Chapter 13, Rebellion forming behind enemy lines

I don't think I've ever felt like this before, but right now, the pizza in front of me wasn't the least bit appetizing- and it was jellybeans, anchovies and jalapeno, my favorite. So that's really saying something. I nibbled a little on the slice in my hand, but it tasted like plaster and I wasn't even feeling that hungry despite the fact that I hadn't eaten much for breakfast this morning. Neither had Leo or Raph. None of us felt like doing much of anything anymore.

It had been the same every day this whole week. Leo was gloomy and quiet and Raph was in state of aggressive depression and was always, either punching the non-living daylights out of the punching dummy or he was out in the city blowing off steam. Raph was also in a state of denial and was constantly trying to convince us that Donnie was alive out there somewhere and that he was gonna get back home to us, it was just a matter of time.

As for Splinter, he was inconsolable and spent almost every second of the day in his room, trying to deal with his grief alone. And he had cancelled every training session, both morning and evening training and sure, it had been a bit nice to not have to train while dealing with this but now I started to miss morning training. The only thing we did these days was to sit around in our own thoughts and tried to get through our emotions. Same old routine every day. And none of us were eating or sleeping well either.

April and Casey had given us some space and time to get through this on our own, but April had called the other day to see how we were coping. She had sounded rather grieved herself, but she also tried to not pry at the stuff that was hard to talk about.

"I've been talking to Casey, too, and we both agreed to let you guys come to us rather than the other way around, but I just had to know how you guys were doing. I know you and brothers have always been so close, and that you've always been together, and I was worried about you guys." I understood her motives and I also understood that she was just trying to help, but I just couldn't bring myself to talk about Donnie or just how much we were hurting without him.

"Thank you, April; I know you're only trying to help us, but it's really hard to talk about this. Donnie's always been my best friend. We used to play together all the time when we were kids, and now he's gone! Raph keeps denying that Donnie's gone and keeps telling us he's gonna come back, and Leo is always quiet and either hiding in his room or out here trying to comfort us, so he doesn't really talk about his own emotions. Splinter's always in his room and keeps cancelling training. And that's all I can really say. I hope you don't mind, April." Of course April didn't mind. She of all people understood how it felt to have a family member ripped away, the horror of not knowing what had happened to them.

My train of thought skidded to a stop as something cold and sticky stroked my cheek. I looked down and saw that Ice Cream Kitty was looking worriedly at me. I smiled down at her and pat her on the head. She leaned into my touch and licked my nose to try and cheer me up.

"Thanks, Kitty… But I don't think that you can make me feel much better today. I'm in a critical state of sadness and depression." I collapsed on the table, my arms catching my head, and I felt Ice Cream Kitty pat my head with her frozen paws. My tears wanted to fall, but I kept trying to blink them away. Although, it turned out to be completely pointless, since they slipped out anyway.

"Oh, Ice Cream Kitty, what are we gonna do now? Donnie's always been there to help us with everything we do- no matter what! And now… now he's gone! And what's worse, Donnie's my best friend. How am I going to stay alive if he's not here? He's always been there to help me, teach me, cheer me up- everything! I can't live without all my bros!" Ice Cream Kitty meowed comfortingly and pat my head again. I sat up straight again, dried my eyes and tried to smile.

"I remember, when we were kids, Donnie and I would always hang out when Leo and Raph argued. One time, I remember he showed me how to build a catapult out of rubber bands and Popsicle sticks." I couldn't help but laugh at the memory. After we had finished the catapult, we had used it to sling water balloons at Leo and Raph while they were playing 'King of the Mountain' in the dojo. Let's just say that they didn't exactly appreciate it. In fact, Raph had tried to destroy the catapult, but Donnie had managed to save it in the last second."

I laughed fondly at the memory. Donnie and I didn't really do 'stupid' things together so often, since Donnie often tried to act like he was too old or too mature for that stuff, but every once in a while we played a prank or two on Raph or Leo, or we would play video games and act like it was a war and not just a game, and then he was always so much fun to hang out with. But lately, he had been so busy with so much stuff that I had barely seen him around because he had to work on the retromutagen, the Shellraiser or just simple stuff like the toaster. I had tried to keep him company, but I have admit I had messed up an experiment or two, and even though Donnie had never yelled at me for it, I could always tell he was upset or at least frustrated about it.

"I just wish I had been faster that night. Maybe I could have saved him before he got sucked into the portal. But I screwed it up, like I always do." Ice Cream Kitty meowed at me, as if she was trying to say, 'It wasn't your fault, Mikey. You couldn't do anything to foresee the situation.' I dried my eyes and smiled at the kitty in front of me.

"Thanks, Kitty. I'm glad that I have somebody to talk to who's not too busy wallowing in their own feelings to listen. Now, I'm not saying I blame them- I totally understand why they feel the way they do- but I still wish they would try to listen a little bit more. I mean, we're a family and we should feel confidant in leaning on each other and talking to each other about how we feel, right?" Ice Cream Kitty meowed at me and she sounded like she agreed with me.

Suddenly Leo walked in through the drapery that was our kitchen door. He wandered over to the cupboard where our glasses were and poured himself some water. He sipped slowly on it before noticing me sitting at the table and tried to smile at me. But I could see that he had dark circles under his unfocused eyes and a slumped posture- something Leo never had, so I could tell he was tired, frustrated and grieved. And if I knew Leo at all, I knew he was grieving in silence, fighting his feelings alone.

"Hey, Mikey. How're you doing? You look a bit pale- have you eaten anything?" I glanced down at the now-cold pizza slice in front of me, then back up at Leo and shoved the plate away.

"I'm not hungry. I can't eat anything, and I don't feel like doing anything either! Everything just seems so pointless right now. You know what I'm saying?" Leo nodded slowly, sipped some more water and looked at me with tired eyes.

"You know where Raph is? I haven't seen him since breakfast." I shook my head, stroked Ice Cream Kitty's head and tried to eat some more of the pizza in front of me.

"Nah, bro, I haven't seen him. I think he went outside to blow off some steam, but I don't know exactly where he is." Leo nodded. I took a bite, grimaced at the taste and looked up at Leo again. "How's Splinter doing?" Leo shook his head and swallowed some more water.

"Not so well. He didn't say it, but I could tell by the look in his eyes that he had had some kind of nightmare, and it really affects him. He won't eat, he can't sleep and he refuses to train." He looked me in the eyes. "I'm worried about him, Mikey. I don't know what I can say or do to help him." I nodded, stood up and wrapped my arms around Leo's chest.

"I know, Leo. But you don't have to feel like you have to help us all the time. You know you can come to us and let us help you, too, right? It's not entirely up to you alone to keep us all together. Okay?" Leo stiffened in my arms, like he didn't know how to react. But after a few seconds he returned my hug, dug his chin into the top of my head and nuzzled my temple with his cheek.

"Yeah, I know, baby brother. I know I should rely a bit on you, too, but it's hard, you know? I'm not good at talking about my feelings or stuff like that with anyone else but Master Splinter, maybe. I guess I just want to handle these things myself and not have to talk to anyone about it." I nodded and nuzzled my face into his chest. Ice Cream Kitty meowed from her place in the bowl she sat in and waved at Leo with a smile. I grinned up at Leo, who looked at Ice Cream Kitty with confused eyes.

"Ice Cream Kitty is telling you that she's here for you, and so am I. And I know Raph and Splinter are, too." Leo looked down at me, smiled with small tears forming in his eyes and hugged me tighter, letting his tears fall freely down his cheeks.

"I know, and I appreciate it, bro." I smiled and hugged him a bit tighter. I felt my own tears fall from my eyes and buried my face in Leo's chest.

"I miss him, Leo. Do you think he misses us, if he's alive somewhere out there like Raph insists he is?" Leo looked down at me, teary-eyed, and I could see he had given up on trying to hold them back. He gently placed a hand on the back of my head and pressed it to his chest.

"I- I don't know, Mikey. I really don't know. I'm sure he would miss you, Splinter and April. But me, Raph and Casey? I don't know, but I wouldn't blame him if he didn't. I mean, okay, I don't mean to paint Casey up as a bad guy, but it was clear he and Donnie didn't really get along that well. And me and Raph? Well, you know..." I nodded and nuzzled my face into his chest again. I then heard him mumble something to himself.

"I miss you, Donnie. I'd give anything if you would just come back home to us." I sniffled a little, let my tears fall and started to sob into my older brother's chest.

" _Oh, Donnie. If you could only see how much we miss you, and how much we need you._ " I thought to myself as I cried into his chest.

* * *

(Starlee's P.O.V)

It was a bit hard to take this all in. Soldiers were running around, getting their weapons and their suits, preparing for battle. Scientists and computer experts were typing away on their computers, trying to track the Triceraton ships and/or the Fugitoid down. And some of us, me included, were sitting with injured soldiers and taking care of their wounds. I was currently wrapping a bandage around Moriah's bicep- she was squirming in her seat, yet she refused to look up from her boots.

And then there was our father, who was furious at the moment. For once he wasn't angry with any specific person, but rather with the Triceratons and at the fact that we had lost the Fugitoid yet _again_. He was yelling, throwing things around and punching the wall like a five-year-old, but everybody in the room knew better than to point it out, at least not aloud.

"I can't believe it! Triceratons? On a Federation Planet?! This time they have gone too far! We have been enemies for hundreds of years, but we've never stepped foot on each other's planets! And not only that, they stole my own flesh and blood?! Those disgusting freaks are gonna regret this, I _swear_ they're gonna regret this!" Moriah looked down in shame and I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Moriah always aimed to please our father, and to her, failure was unacceptable and simply not an option.

"I'm sorry, Father. We tried to fight them off, but there were simply too many and they were too powerful! If we had-" He turned to us, slapped Moriah across the face and grabbed onto one of her ponytails, pulling her face up so he could look her in the eyes. I couldn't help but cringe. It looked so painful.

"There are no excuses when you are of Federation blood, Moriah! And especially not when you're of _my_ blood! How do you think the people would see me if they heard that my oldest daughter- and their future leader- was a pathetic, weak failure? As the future General of the Federation, you must show that you are just as ruthless and strong as I am, and rule with an iron fist! To fail is simply unacceptable! Do I make myself clear?!" Moriah's face was scrunched up in pain and she barely managed to nod, partly because of our father's grip on her and partly because of the pain itself.

"I understand, Father." Our father let go of her hair and she immediately lowered her head again and rubbed the sore spot on her head. But he wasn't quite done yet.

"However, I will give you one last chance to prove yourself worthy as leader of the Federation, Daughter. Gather up as many of our best soldiers as you can and follow the Triceratons to re-capture the Fugitoid from those freaks. Do _not_ fail me this time! If you do, the consequences will be quite _unfortunate_." Moriah shuddered, nodding slowly.

"I understand, Father. And what of Jhanna?" I looked up at our father, who hummed in thought. Then he looked down at us with disinterested eyes.

"Leave her be! She wanted to leave this planet, now she has. Let's see how long it takes for her to crawl back to us on her bare knees and beg to be taken back. But for now, your most important goal is to find the Fugitoid and bring it to us. Nothing else matters." Moriah nodded, stood up and was about to leave, but I flew up from where I had been sitting on the floor and grabbed on his arm.

"What?! But, Daddy, she's our sister! Your _daughter_! We can't just abandon her with those aliens! They'll kill her, you know that! Please, Daddy, we have to save her!" Father looked down on me, his eyes softening slightly, and gently pulled his arm away from me to place both his hands on my shoulders.

"Starlee, you are your mother's daughter, and I see you have her kindness in you. But we are talking about the survival of our world's domination here! We cannot afford to lose it because of a few setbacks. It's of utmost importance to get that robot and bring it here. Everything else is a distraction." I glared up at him. I had been rather forgiving of everything he had done, but he was willing to let his daughter- my _sister_ \- die just so he could keep controlling our planet. I could not just sit there and do nothing about it.

"We can deal with that later! The Triceratons obviously need the Fugitoid- they'll keep him alive! But Jhanna may not have much time! We _have_ to help her, she's our family!" Father's eyes started to harden, as well as his grip on my shoulders. He was starting to lose his patience.

"Once you are off the planet, you are on your own; that is common law on this planet, you know this, Starlee. Jhanna has to handle herself now that she is on another planet. And she wanted to leave, didn't she? She's got what she asked for. Now, go and help the injured, Starlee." He clearly didn't want to continue the conversation, but I still glared at him. He couldn't be serious about this, could he?

"But Daddy, Jhanna could be in serious danger! What happened to 'find her and lock her in a cell if you have to'? Don't you care at all that your worst enemies might be torturing your own daughter? Are you seriously gonna-?" He turned around, grabbed me by the chin and looked me in the eyes with cold, dangerous and deadly eyes. He'd had enough- that was plain to see.

"That is enough, Starlee! This is not something to concern yourself with. All Federation soldiers have sworn their allegiance to us; from the moment they were born, their loyalty was to this planet, and rebelling against their leader is not to be tolerated. To do so would be treason, Starlee, don't you ever forget that." He let go of my chin and walked over to a green-haired woman and started to ask questions about how the Triceratons might have found out about the Fugitoid. Jhanna was completely forgotten.

I growled at him. How could he do this? One of his daughters was in the hands on the enemy, his other daughter had been nearly killed by the enemy, and he only thought of the Fugitoid? I clenched my hands, my fingernails digging into my palms; I had to fight the urge to spit at him.

"Idiot." I muttered to myself. Jhanna had been right before- he didn't care about us. He only cared about the power he had over this planet. Moriah, the people around us and I were only tools he needed to get what he wanted. I looked over my shoulder and saw that Moriah had already left the room. I glanced over at my dad and saw he wasn't looking, so I quickly left the room and ran after my sister. She hadn't made it very far so I quickly ran up to her and grabbed her arm.

"Moriah! You're not really going to listen to Daddy, are you? Are you really going to abandon Jhanna, just like that?" Moriah turned to me and gently removed my hand from her arm.

"I'm sorry, Starlee, but I have to listen to what he says." I glared up at her. How could she say this?

"Why, just because he says so?" Moriah closed her eyes for a few seconds, moving her mouth to show me that she was counting to ten silently. Then she looked at me with less serious eyes, like she was scared or desperate.

"You heard him: if I don't succeed, the consequences will be really bad! I have no choice!" I had no answer to that, so I just watched as she walked down the corridor and disappeared through another door. I stood there for a few minutes and thought about this. My older sister was in trouble, and no one was doing anything to help her. So, if nobody else was going to do anything about it, then I was.

I ran back to my room and sat down on my bed, grabbed my tablet and started to work. First, I tapped into the Federation's ship storage, where every ship that was functional could be looked over. There were, at the moment, 162 functional ships on the planet, so I would have no problem escaping.

We had gained a whole lot of ships in our wars against other aliens, so that's why we had so many of them. All of them were different. Getting the ship was easy enough, but how to get to that part was harder. There would be soldiers everywhere, most notably in the room with the ships. So how would I get there without being seen? Jhanna would have stuck to the shadows and just made things up as she went along, but I was a lot more strategic than she was.

I sat and thought about it for a while. I could hack into the system and program the alarm to go off and make it look like there was a ship of Triceratons still on the planet and that they were about to attack. Then they would be distracted; hopefully long enough so I could sneak in, get a ship and leave the planet.

Nodding to myself, I hacked into the security system and programmed it to go off like it did when an enemy was sighted, and it immediately obeyed. I peeked out of the room and saw soldiers running around like crazy, gathering their weapons, and ran towards the control room. I had bought myself some time, and I had to move now.

I ran down the hallway and towards the room where we kept all our ships. It was down in the basement, so I had to be quick. All the soldiers were gone, so I had no problem getting there, but I was still scared. Any moment they might realize it was a false alarm and come running down the corridor and find me.

Eventually I made it down to the ships and looked around. There were so many ships; which one would be the best for a rescue mission? My eyes fell on a big, white ship (A/N: Like the one in the show) and I decided it would have to do. I ran inside and looked around. I had been lucky. It was a technologically advanced ship; with tech I knew how to work with. I ran up to the controls and started to power up the ship.

"I'm coming, Jhanna. I'm gonna save you."

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 **A/N: Okay, not my best chapter, but I still think it's good. There's the twist with Starlee leaving, but I can understand if some people aren't that impressed since we don't really know Starlee that well yet. But don't worry, I plan on making up for it in later chapters.**

 **I hope you liked the chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	15. Chapter 14, The final straw

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: New chapter up! Sorry for being a little late, but I've had a few things that I had to do beforehand, and I've also needed some time to just relax and have a nice weekend. Like you do. I wanna apologize in advance, since I have a feeling the next few chapters are gonna be a tad rushed. Just a heads up,**

 **ALSO, MY BETA SAYS HELLO ;)**

 **Hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 14, The final straw

"Donnie, wake up! Wake _up_! They'll come and let us out soon!" I was shaken out of my sleep to see Jhanna standing beside my bunk with disheveled hair and the eyes of a half-zombie, clutching my shoulder uncomfortably tight and shaking as hard as her freshly awakened muscles would allow. I sat up on the mattress, rubbed my eyes (which were crusty from crying myself to sleep) and stretched out the kinks in my back and my limbs. I took a second to look back and forth between the two of us, noting that even though we had only been in jail for two days, we looked like we had been imprisoned for months.

Jhanna's clothing was tattered, torn, and stained with dirt, sweat and a little blood from yesterday's fight. Her hair was, like I said, a tousled mess, and she was trying to comb through her two ponytails with her fingers and brush her uncooperative bangs out of her face; it didn't make much of a difference. Her face and what was visible of her body were also covered in dirt, scars, and a variety of wounds. But unlike the scar on her face, some of these scars and wounds looked a bit infected. I wasn't looking that much better, either. I too was covered with scars, dirt and a little blood, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that both Jhanna and I needed a shower, at the very least. I also felt slightly feverish, but not to a point where I felt literally sick.

I stretched out my back and groaned in relief at the sound of cracking bones as my body started to adjust to its upright position after lying down for so long.

"Okay, okay! I'm up, I'm up!" I groaned slightly and tilted my head from side to side, cracking my neck. "Huh… how long have I been asleep? What time is it?" Jhanna shrugged and tried to wipe away a bloodstain on her brown vest by spitting in her hand and rubbing her fingers across the spot. The blemish wasn't affected in the slightest.

"I don't really know. I would guess somewhere in between 6 or 7 AM, but like I said, I'm not sure. And I'm pretty sure you've been asleep for at least fifteen hours, if you fell asleep shortly after me, that is." Fifteen hours? Wow, that had to be some kind of record. Then again, I hadn't been sleeping very well the night prior, and considering everything I've been through in the past week, it's really no surprise that it would sap me of my dwindling strength.

"Oh, okay. Um, thanks for waking me up." Jhanna folded her arms over her chest and nodded awkwardly. After what had happened yesterday after we had been dragged back to our cells, there had been this awkward tension between us; mostly because of the information about my life that I had shared with her. And after I had seen a more vulnerable side of her, I had gained a newfound respect for her. She clearly had grown up alone, or had at least been taught to only take care of herself, so it wasn't so surprising that she had been reluctant to help Mona Lisa and those other aliens on D'hoonib. Still, I don't know if that means we're friends or simply allies, like me and Casey are.

Jhanna spit on her hand and tried to clean her face the best she could, but she just ended up smearing the dirt all over her face instead of wiping it away completely.

"So, do you have any ideas on how to get out of here? I mean, I know we haven't been here for too long, but I just thought you might have a small idea on how to escape." I shrugged and adjusted my kneepads and elbow pads before re-wrapping my feet and wrists. I frowned at how dark with filth the off-white wrappings had become.

"Not yet. I've been thinking about talking to that Mona Lisa girl from yesterday and seeing if she knows anything about possible escapes." While it was unlikely she knew anything of value- considering she was still trapped here, herself- it was our best lead for now.

Jhanna nodded slowly and adjusted her vest slightly, re-doing her ponytails. The doors opened and the Triceraton I had come to recognise as Zog came in with serious and grim eyes.

"Get a move on, you two! It's breakfast time, and I will _not_ stick around to babysit two troublemaking teenagers when it's over." We got up from our bunks and were led into the hallway that would take us to the dining area. A ton of other aliens were heading the same way, and in the large crowd, I saw Rynokk glaring daggers at me, hitting his fist into his hand, wordlessly saying that he was gonna beat me up later. I guess he was still angry about me humiliating him in front of all of the inmates yesterday.

I also spotted Mona Lisa in the mix and after I had told Jhanna I would be right back, I ran up to her and lightly tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around and looked up at me with a small smile and recognition in her eyes. She had tied her messy hair into a low ponytail and now, when she wasn't cowering in fear and suspicion, I could see that she had a muscular body adapted for speed and agility. She was clearly able to fight, even if she wasn't that big.

"Hey. How's prison life treating you so far?" She asked and her voice was filled with more confidence than yesterday; though she still sounded a bit cautious and scared. Like she was trying not to attract too much attention to herself. I shrugged and tried to smile.

"Well, I guess you could say I'm making quite the reputation for myself around here. Don't know if that's a good or a bad thing, though. Look, I need to talk to you- it's important. Think you could sit with me and my friend at breakfast?" She eyed me with even more caution and raised her eyebrow at me. She didn't trust me that much yet, but she nodded and agreed nonetheless. I quickly thanked her and ran back to Jhanna.

"There. I talked to her and she's coming to sit with us. Now all we have to do is ask her the right questions and she might feel like she can tell us what we need to know without any fuss." Jhanna leaned in closer to me and whispered in my ear.

"In that case, I think it's best if you handle the talking and the questions. I'm not very good with words or… _people_." I agreed. After we had gotten our share of disgusting, smelly and practically inedible goop that the Triceratons called food, the three of us sat down at a table in a corner near the wall so that nobody could hear us.

"Okay, so what is it you wanted to talk about?" Mona asked while reluctantly shoving some of that goop down her throat, gagging and quickly gulping down some water to get rid of the taste. I looked over at Jhanna, who was trying to eat her food without throwing up, poked at my food, and then looked up at Mona Lisa again.

"Well, the thing is, Jhanna and I wanna escape from this place." Mona smiled sardonically at me with a raised eyebrow, resting her head in her hand and her elbow on the table.

"Oh, yeah? Well, so does just about every alien in this prison. Many have tried and failed to escape- and that's usually how they meet their doom." I gulped loudly. Okay, so this was not going to be easy. Point taken. But I had to try, even if there was a big price to pay. I wanted nothing more than to get out of here, find the Fugitoid, get us out of here, and then go back home to Earth again. I leaned closer to her, motioned for her closer as well, and whispered as loud as I dared.

"I know, but we are trying to hatch an escape plan. I was hoping maybe you could give us some info about the best way to try." Mona Lisa, who had scooped some more of the so-called 'food' onto her spoon, gasped loudly. Her jaw dropped and she accidentally flung her food into the back of another alien's head. He started to yell at her in some unknown alien lingo and Mona Lisa smiled sheepishly and apologized in the language as well. It sounded like ' _Spatsobu_ '. She then turned back to me with a mixture of fear, anger and excitement in her face.

"Are you crazy? Didn't you hear what I just said? Do you _want_ to get yourself killed?! If you try to escape and the guards find out about it, it's a one way trip to execution battles!" I had no idea what a 'execution battle' was, but I guess it was their version of the Electric Chair. Jhanna put her own spoon down and joined the conversation.

"Oh, yeah, well, the point is to get out _without_ them noticing. So that's why we're gonna plan it out and not just run straight into it like two knuckleheads. Besides, I am not just gonna stay here and waste my life until the day I'm nothing but a dusty old skeleton. So, are you gonna help us or not?" Mona Lisa chewed on her lip, looked down at her food and then shook her head.

"I'm sorry, but I don't want to risk losing my life. I only have one and I'm careful with it! I'm sorry, but I really don't want to die." Disappointment washed over me and I lowered my head slightly in shame. I'm such a blithering idiot. How could I be so stupid as to think that I could rely on any of these aliens for help? Most of them must have been here for so much longer than I had and had lived behind these cold, dark walls for years, possibly most of their lifetime. They must've lost hope long ago, especially if what Mona said was true and all those who had tried to escape had lost their lives. So much for that plan. I looked over at Jhanna, who also looked rather crestfallen from Mona's response. We all ate in silence, but the gears in my head were still turning.

"I refuse to give up." I mumbled to myself while eating my food. "I am not going to spend the rest of my life locked behind these walls, and I won't be treated like a punching bag! I'll find a way out of here, somehow. Even if it's the last thing I do." Mona Lisa looked up at me, scoffed and rolled her eyes before swallowing the last of her food and leaving the table.

"Heh. Yeah, good luck with that, pal." She took her plate and spoon and walked over the dish station to leave her dishes. Jhanna looked at me with narrowed eyes and a raised eyebrow, trying to look smug through her disappointment.

"Well, that could've gone better. Nice choice you made, saving a girl who's too afraid and helpless to even try and fight back." I rested my chin on my hand and sighed heavily. I knew Jhanna was only trying to help in her own way, but I really didn't need to hear that right now.

"Urgh, I realize that, Jhanna! I was only trying to do something, _anything_ , to help us get out of here. If you're so smart, why don't _you_ try and think of something?!" I didn't realize that I had snapped at her until she looked away with suppressed anger and sadness in her eyes. Well, this was going great so far, wasn't it? I had to get a grip on my emotions. Jhanna was my only friend in this place; I couldn't make her hate me now too.

"Look, I'm sorry, Jhanna. I didn't mean to snap at you like that. It's just..." I sighed and buried my face in my hands. "I just don't know what to do. I have no idea on how we're supposed to escape, let alone find the Professor and save him." Jhanna nodded slowly and shoved some more food into her mouth as she looked around the room, obviously in deep thought. I just rested my chin in my hand and ate the rest of my food rather unenthusiastically.

"Hey, I know! How about if we-?" Jhanna was interrupted when suddenly, out of nowhere, Rynokk showed his ugly, piglike face and slammed both hands onto the table with a 'bang', catching both of our attention.

"You..." He hissed at me, his eyes filled with anger. He looked ready to strangle me. But at the moment, I was too tired, too down in the dumps and too tangled up in my own emotions and thoughts to really want to confront this guy again. I put the spoon down and looked up at the alien before me with seriously angry eyes that I hoped told him 'I am _so_ not dealing with any of your whining right now, so leave before I knock the fat off you,' but he clearly couldn't take a hint. I stood up, still staring up at him defiantly.

"Look, pal, I am in a _super_ bad mood right now, so if you don't want a leg broken, I suggest that you-" I didn't get much further, because Rynokk shoved me so I stumbled over the bench I was sitting on and hit my head against the wall as I fell backwards.

"You humiliated me in front of everyone in this cellblock; you made me look like a _wimp_! Now suffer the consequences, freak!" I rubbed my head and felt a small bump starting to form. Jhanna kneeled down beside me and helped me sit up straight on the bench. I glared up at Rynokk, who was clearly trying to anger me further. But I knew I had to stay calm, or Jhanna and I would end up that Arena place, which sounded much worse than anything than we had been through so far. I had to stay calm. Jhanna didn't quite get this, though, since she didn't want to stay quiet.

"Oh, I see how it is. You shy away from bigger and stronger aliens in this place, but you gladly pick on aliens smaller than you! What a tough guy, right? Donnie, don't you agree that there's more courage in an _egg_ than in this guy? At least they're harder to crack!" Rynokk growled at her, raising his hand to smack her, but Jhanna was quicker and managed to dodge his attack before she managed to kick him straight in the face, making him stumble and clutch his nose. Unfortunately, he recovered quickly and tried to hit her again, but Jhanna dodged him again and aimed a punch at his bulging stomach. I flew up from the bench as well and tried to stop Jhanna from fighting him.

"Jhanna, stop it! Stop it right now! You know we'll get into even more trouble if we cause any more trouble around here! Stop!" I wrapped my arms around her waist and tried to pull her off Rynokk, as she was sitting on his shoulders with her legs and her arms around his neck and trying to choke him. But she refused to let go, despite Rynokk trying to shake her off him. And I also noticed that a lot of aliens started to gather around to look at the spectacle.

"What is going on in here?!" Everybody in the room froze and turned to the doors, where Gruel was standing with his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face. Two other Triceratons had joined him and stood behind him with their weapons at the ready. All the other aliens backed away from us. Jhanna climbed down from Rynokk's shoulders with a less than triumphant look on her face and I let go of her waist, gripping my hands behind my back and trying to look innocent. This wasn't even my fault; I hadn't done anything wrong this time.

Gruel walked up to us and smiled sadistically at us. He clearly enjoyed this to some extent, even if we had- once again- caused trouble in his cellblock. He had a whip in his hand and slapped it lightly against his other hand, trying to look threatening.

"So, you two have caused trouble again? Even when I specifically told you that you would be in great trouble if you did? Naughty, naughty." Rynokk smirked at us like a little kid who was glad to see his victim get into trouble with his parents, but Gruel wasn't mad at just us.

"And you! How many times have I told you to learn your place around here? This is not a party or a school- it's a prison! You forget that I am superior to you, and that you are nothing but insignificant dirt! And as punishment, you will receive whipping." He handed the whip over to one of the other Triceratons that had followed him into the room.

"Give him 300 lashes, and make sure he won't sit for the rest of the month." The Triceraton nodded and led Rynokk out of the room with a rough grip on his arm, and Rynokk bowed his head in anger, shame and slight fear. I almost felt a bit sorry for him, but I quickly forgot him when Gruel looked down at Jhanna and me with stern, angry yet somewhat amused eyes.

"And as for you two little troublemakers: The Arena, _now_!"

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 **A/N: Dun, dun dun! Now our heroes are in even more trouble than before! How are they gonna escape now?**

 **Okay, that's a wrap! Again, sorry I'm late but I've had a lot of things I've had to do. I will try to update again this weekend, but I'm not promising anything.**


	16. Chapter 15, I never meant to hurt him

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: New chapter time! I wanna take a moment to thank ThisVioletofMine, who's been beta-reading my chapters since I started Brotherly Bonds, and I haven't given her enough credit! She's awesome and have given me a lot of good ideas for different chapters, even for the future, so let me say, girl you are awesome!**

 **I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! (Warning for a few strong words from Raph)**

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Chapter 15, I never meant to hurt him

Sweat poured down my neck and I sat down on the ledge of a rooftop so I could catch my breath. I had been out all night, running around the city, looking for crooks, Kraang-bots or foot-bots so that I could blow off some steam. So far I had only found the Purple Dragons, who tried- rather unsuccessfully- to rob a bank. But beating them up didn't help me get rid of all that rage inside of me. Usually it helped to beat up bad guys when I was angry, but this time it didn't help one bit.

The last week had been a chore to get through. No, not a chore. So much worse than that. Leo hardly spoke a word and did nothing but mope and dope, Mikey cried a lot and Splinter sat in his room all day, trying to deal with the pain and grief losing another child. I felt so bad for him.

I couldn't care less about Karai or the fact that she's really Splinter's daughter; in fact, I'm against the idea that she'll ever join us, and the only good thing that's come out of us losing Donnie is that Leo has stopped complaining about us having to get Karai on our side. But Splinter has already lost one child, his first and only daughter, and now he's lost one of us. He's already said before that we're all he has left, so it must be so hard for him to deal with all of this.

And as for me? Well, I can't say that I'm coping very well. I'd never admit it to Leo or Mikey- heck, even _Splinter_ , but Donnie's presumed death has affected me a lot more than I wanted my brothers to realize. Ever since Spike had gotten mutated, my temper had gotten so much worse. I lashed out more often, I picked fights and was a lot easier to anger than I usually was. And there was also that one time that I went too far during a sparing match with Leo. But anyway, Leo had more or less ignored me or let me blow off my steam, unless I went too far. But still, more often than not, he just fuelled my anger than anything else. The same could be said about Mikey, since he knew just how to push my buttons and more than willingly liked to push them. He would prank me, tease me and do things he knew he angered me, just to make me react. Or, more accurately, anger me.

But whereas Leo and Mikey pushed back and defended themselves when I snapped at them, Donnie just sat there and took it. And now that he wasn't there for me to leave all my anger on somebody so he could shoulder it, I had started to think a lot more. Especially over how I had treated him. Donnie had always been there to more or less catch me when I fell, to comfort whenever I threw a fit when we were kids, and to stick with us until we grew up. And he has _always_ been there to help me when he thought I needed it, comfort me and try to be a good brother to me, even though I always snapped at him and told him to buzz off. Yet he never complained to Splinter about it. He always sucked it up and let me bully him all the time, so now that he was gone and I had time to think about him, I realized that I had been really hard on him lately. Like, _really_ hard on him.

I looked up at the stars and saw a shooting star fly across the night sky and disappear behind a tall building across the street. I bit my lower lip, looked around to see if anybody was there and looked up at the night sky again, taking a deep breath and letting it out in a heavy sigh as I let my head fall forward, now gazing drearily down at my feet and the pavement below me.

"Ugh, I can't believe I'm doing this..." I muttered to myself. I tipped my head up towards the starry sky again, closed my eyes and whispered to myself. "I wish that Donnie is alive out there, and that wherever he is right now, he's alright, safe and unharmed. And I wish that he'll somehow find his way back home to us again." I opened my eyes again, lazily examining the stars and the full moon, then sighed heavily and let my head drop forward as a feeling of hopelessness washed over me.

"Well, this is something I never thought I'd ever see." I jumped at the sudden voice, turned around, got to my feet and placed my hands on my sais, ready to fight whoever it was. Thankfully I relaxed when I saw who it was, leaning against the shack on the other end of the rooftop.

"Raphael, the toughest turtle around… wishing upon a star? Well, now I know things are _really_ bad." I lowered my weapons and put them back in my belt.

"Casey? What are you doing here?" Casey pushed up his mask, revealing his face, and walked up to me. He had his usual cocky smirk on his face, but I could also see that he was being a tad more sympathetic than usual.

"The same as you, I guess. Looking for bad guys to pummel and letting out steam. I saw you take on the Purple Dragons before I could, so I decided to follow you to see if you were okay." I bit my lip, nodded my head to say 'okay, cool', and then looked down at the ground, not sure what I was supposed to say. Casey rubbed his arm absentmindedly, looking from the gravel to the moon and then back to me again.

"So... How are you doing? I mean, I know April and I both agreed to give you guys space, but I had to know how you were doing. Just to make sure that you were okay, man." I sighed. How was I supposed to answer? 'Oh yeah, I'm fine! I mean, my little brother was sucked through a Kraang portal and is presumed to be _dead_ , but hey, it's cool!' I sighed again, turning away from Casey and walking up to the ledge.

"I dunno. I mean, the others are super quiet and have done nothing else but mope around. Master Splinter is heartbroken and so grief-stricken that he won't train us anymore. I guess I'm just trying to fight crime and _do_ something while the others work through their grief. But I don't-" A sudden crash came from below us and we ran up to the other side of the roof to see a bunch of thugs trying to break into a jewelry store.

One of the thugs, a scrawny, weak-looking and rather skittish guy, was kneeling in front of the locked and wired door and was probably trying to unlock it, which I could see had a rather advanced BH6 alarm system, a system that Donnie had told us was a very common lock these days and was known to be very hard to crack. But Donnie had easily found a way to do so anyway. This guy clearly had trouble deactivating it, though, and another one of the thugs, a more muscular and angry-eyed man who I guess was their leader, walked up to him and smacked him over the head, making the other guy cry out in pain and surprise.

"Are you done yet? We don't have all night, you know!" The other guy looked up at the leader with scared eyes and jittery fingers.

"This alarm is really advanced, and I don't know i-if I can crack it! It's known to be very hard to crack… maybe we should just leave and come back some other day, when we have a better plan?" The other guys growled, slapping the poor guy over the face, making him fall to the ground, and then kicking him in the back. The guy cried out in pain.

"You _idiot_! You had one job- one _fucking_ job! And you couldn't even do that?! Wow, you're really useless, aren't you! We could've gone here without you and nothing would've been different!" The poor guy slowly tried to get up from the ground, but the leader-guy placed his foot on his ribcage and pushed him back down again, rather roughly, and I was sure I could hear his ribs break.

"You're supposed to be so _smart_ , yet you can't even pick a lock or deactivate an alarm? If you can't do that, why do we keep you around, huh?" He grabbed something from his belt and when he aimed it at the guy's chest, I could see it was a gun. "In fact, I think that I'll do the world a favour and put you out of your misery." The guy on the ground whimpered in fear and pain and tried to squirm away from the man's rough hold on him.

"N-no, please! I have a wife, a little girl, and one on the way! Please, let me go, I'll do anything! Please, I just wanna see my family!" But the leader just laughed at him, and only now did I see that the guy on the ground was wearing the uniform of a locksmith. Judging by his age and the fact that he didn't know how to deactivate the alarm, he was probably rather new to this job, since he looked like he couldn't be more than 27. He was probably held hostage by those thugs. And now they were threatening to kill him, even though he was begging for his life.

But what I think might have delivered the crushing blow to my gut was the young man's eyes. They were a bright, intelligent brown, so full of life and kindness. They reminded me too much of Donnie's. And they were now full of terror and tears.

I felt my blood boil in my veins. My hands reached for the weapons attached to my belt and anger was beginning to cloud my thoughts and better judgment. That jerk was beating up a guy who was helping him without complaining or trying to stop them, yet he was still being threatened with death after all of the fear he had gone through. I couldn't stop myself. I jumped off the building with my sai at the ready and attacked the leader of the group.

"Raph, wait!" Casey called after me, but I didn't acknowledge him. I only had eyes for this piece of trash. The man was so shocked to see my mutant body, and I attacked him so swiftly, that he didn't fight back. He let me punch him in the face so hard that he fell to the ground, and before he could get up, I sat down on his chest and punched him over and over.

"You fucking _asshole_! You can't talk to him like that! You can't hurt him like that! He's _innocent_!" The man under me tried to fight back by grabbing my wrists and trying to push them away from his face and body, but he was clearly weaker than me and the underdog right now. In the back of my head I registered that Casey had taken care of the other three thugs, but I didn't care. I only cared about the man under me and the punishment he deserved. He was bleeding heavily, a lot of his teeth were knocked out, his bones were broken and I think that he had a black eye, too. He was full out sobbing by now, but I was too enraged to consider the fact that he was remorseful in any way.

"Don't hurt me! P-please, whatever you are, let me go! I didn't mean to hurt him. I'll let him go alive, I swear, just don't hurt me!" He tried to squirm out of my grip, but I grabbed him tighter and squeezed him with my legs to keep him from moving before knocking him out cold with another punch.

" _LIES_! You're never gonna stop! You'll keep pushing him around, treating him like he's not important, but you wouldn't be _anywhere_ without him! And one day he'll be gone and you will have nowhere to turn for the help you need! WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO THEN?!" Once he was out cold, I raised my sai at his face. I was just about to stab him right in the chest to kill him when I felt somebody grab me by the shoulders and pull me away from the unconscious man on the ground. The person shook me roughly and yelled right into my ear.

"Raph! _RAPH_! Stop it, he's out cold, he can't do anything right now! Let him go!" For a few seconds, which felt like minutes, my head started to clear. And only now did I realize that I was crying. Thick tears were falling down my cheeks and heavy sobs were tearing at my throat.

I heard the locksmith run out of the alley while screaming about aliens invading Earth, but I didn't care about him anymore. I just bit my lips together, shut my eyes and tried to suffocate my tears and sobs. Casey led me away from the man on the ground and helped me climb up on the roof again.

I sat down with my shell against the wall of a shack and tried to take deep breaths to calm myself. I heard Casey talk on the phone for a few seconds, and then he came and sat down beside me.

"I just called the police. They'll be here to take care of those thugs any minute now." I nodded awkwardly, pulled my legs up to my chest and wrapped my arms around my knees. He carefully placed his arm around my shoulders, ready for me to slap his arm away; but just this one time, I let myself be comforted by Casey and leaned into his touch- just a little.

"Dude, what happened back there? I've never seen you lose your temper like _that_ before. I mean, you were ready to _kill_ that guy." I held my knees tighter, feeling more tears threatening to fall down my cheeks as I desperately tried to fight them back. Now, when I had gotten the chance to calm down, I felt guilt and a bit of fear wash over me. I had almost killed a guy. How could I? Sure, he was a thug and was about to rob a store, but still. I had gone way too far, had done things I thought I'd never do.

"I- I didn't mean to hurt him... I just, I dunno..." I sniffed a little, rubbed my arm over my eyes and took a breath. "I guess I just... I saw myself in that guy. And I didn't like what I saw." Casey held me a little tighter and moved in a little closer.

"What? What do you mean, you saw yourself in that guy? You're not a thug or a thief, and you wouldn't threaten to kill anyone. So why?" I took another shaky breath and buried my face in my arms.

"No... I saw myself in him, because I recognised how he treated that other guy as the way I've treated Donnie for so many years. Ever since we were kids, I've treated him as if he was useless and a worthless ninja, even though he's the reason we have electricity, heating and so much more. I've been pushing him around, bullying him and belittling him for so many years." I sobbed and a gob of tears fell from my eyes and down my cheeks.

"A-and now he's g-gone and everybody t-think's he's dead. A-and the last thing I said directly to his face was that he had done nothing but mess up and almost kill us! …And I never got a chance to even _apologize_. I'm a terrible brother... I hate myself." I couldn't hold it back anymore. I broke down sobbing and I didn't even care that Casey could see me crying. I couldn't stop myself. I felt Casey wrap both his arms around my shoulders and let me cry into his shoulder, and I wrapped my arms around his chest, hugging him closer to me.

"It's okay, dude... Just let it all out, it'll feel better once you're done. I'm here for you, bro." I don't know how long we sat there, but it must've been for quite some time, because once I had run out of tears, my muscles were stiff and my legs had fallen asleep. I rubbed my hand over my eyes and nose, leaned back against the wall and tried to calm down by taking deep breaths. I turned back to Casey after a while.

"Thanks, man." Casey smiled and punched me lightly on the shoulder.

"It's cool, man, we're friends; you can talk to me. Even if I'm not always the easiest person to talk to about these things." I nodded slowly, leaned my head against the wall and looked up at the moon and the stars. What if Donnie was out there, somewhere? Did he miss us? Did he... did he miss me? I sighed. No, he probably didn't. He was probably happy to finally be free from us. Nobody to order him around, bully him or annoy him while he tried to work. He was free to do whatever he wanted to do… that is, if he was still alive...

I shook my head roughly. No. I couldn't think like that. Donnie was alive out there. I just knew it. And he was gonna try and come home again, and if not for all of us, he would do it for Mikey, April and Sensei. And until he did, I was gonna take care of this city, keep bad guys from taking over the world and make sure everything was going to be fine here. I would keep this place clean and welcoming for when he finally made it back to us… For when he finally came home.

"What're you thinking about?" I looked over at Casey, who had placed his hand on my shoulder. I sighed and looked up at the moon again. It stared back at me, almost mockingly.

"I'm thinking about where Donnie could be right now. And how I'm going to try to do everything I can to fight crime and keep this city safe, while the others work through their grief. On their own, if they need it. I'm going to fight the Kraang, the foot-bots and everything the world throws at this city until Donnie comes home again." I heard Casey sigh and squeeze my shoulder a little tighter.

"Raph..." I shook his hand off my shoulder and glared at him. So many people had tried to convince me that Donnie was most likely dead and couldn't have survived falling through that portal, and every time that they had tried, I had refused to listen to them.

"No! I know what you're gonna say, so spare me your realism! Donnie's alive somewhere, I just know it! He's tougher than that, he's my brother, and he's a fighter! Not a little wimp! And let me tell you something: he's not just brains- he's a _fighter_ , and a damn good one, too! He'll come home again! I know he will, somehow!" I let out a shaky breath, looked away from Casey and up at the stars, winking secretively at me. "…Somehow." Casey placed his hand on my shoulder again and gently shook it.

"I know that's what you think, Raph, but all I want to say is that you shouldn't get your hopes up too quickly. Let's say that he _is_ alive out there somewhere: it's probably gonna take a while before he'll come home. You know that, right?" I sighed dejectedly and once again shrugged his hand off my shoulder.

"I know... I just- I just have to believe that he'll come home. I have to! If he really _is_ dead or if something's happened to him, I'll _never_ be able to forgive myself. Never, ever, ever." I almost broke down sobbing again, but this time I had more control over myself and I didn't do anything more than choke up. Although a few small tears did eventually fall from my eyes. Casey nodded, patted me on the shoulder and then checked the time.

"It's getting late. You want to sit here a while longer, or do you want to do something else? Maybe there are some more bad guys out there or something?" I thought about it. After breaking down crying before, I suddenly felt really tired and I wanted nothing more right now than to go to bed. I shook my head and stood, stretching my muscles a little to wake them up.

"No. I just wanna go home and sleep. I feel ready to fall asleep on this roof." Casey nodded and stood up himself.

"Yeah, I guess I have to go home soon, too. Want me to follow you home, or are you gonna be okay?" I took a deep breath and shook my head. I bet Casey thought I wasn't emotionally stable right now and might go nuts on somebody again, which wasn't exactly unlikely.

"Nah, I'll be fine. I'll just go straight home; you go home, yourself. I'm okay." Casey didn't look entirely convinced, but he nodded anyway, climbed down the building and skated off down the street. I looked after him until he disappeared, then jumped down into the alley, where the blood from the man I almost killed was still fresh. I shuddered and noticed now that I had blood on my hands and my weapons. I would have to clean them when I got home. Or maybe tomorrow. I really didn't have the energy to do anything right now.

After a few minutes of walking through the sewer tunnels, I entered the lair and saw that Leo was still up. Considering the time, I assumed that both Mikey and Splinter had probably gone to bed by now. When Leo saw me enter the room, he got up from the couch, but then saw my bloody hands and sai and looked at me with serious and slightly scared eyes. But before he could say anything, I raised my hand in a 'stop' way.

"If you truly love me, bro, don't ask. Just… don't." Leo closed his mouth, looked at me for a second and then placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Well, can you at least tell me if you're okay, bro? You look like you're ready to fall to the floor." I shrugged and rubbed the back of my hand over my eyes.

"I'm fine, just tired. _Really_ tired." Leo nodded, took the sai out of my belt and smiled at me.

"You go to bed, Raph. I'll clean these for you." I smiled back at Leo, said a quick 'goodnight' and then walked over to my room. I threw my mask and my gear on the floor and collapsed onto the bed. I pulled the blanket over my head and buried my face into the pillow. But before I fell asleep, my thoughts flew to Donnie again and I felt my eyes water a bit.

"I'm sorry, Donnie. I am so, _so_ very sorry." I mumbled to myself before I fell asleep. The few tears that had formed in my eyes ran, unhindered, down my cheeks.

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 **A/N: Okay, so I am not good at writing fight scenes. And I also hope I didn't write Casey too OOC, but other than that, I'm rather pleased with this chapter. I love Raph, and I think this is how he would react if a family member or close friend was ripped away from him and was presumed to be dead. I should also give credit to Violet, who gave me the idea of Raph seeing himself in a thug and losing control of himself.**

 **OBS: I totally made up the BH6 alarm-thingy! I don't know anything about alarm systems! Just so you know.**

 **I hope you liked the chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	17. Chapter 16, Reviving hope in a lost soul

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: New update time! Woo-hoo!**

 **Hope you'll like this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! (Thanks to my Beta for proof-reading my chapter!)**

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Chapter 16, Reviving hope in a lost soul

Well, this day certainly could have gone better. We were now in even deeper trouble than we were yesterday- no thanks, _at all_ , to Jhanna and her crazy temper. Though I guess she had just wanted to stand up for me, just as I had done yesterday for her. But, still... The Arena? It couldn't be a good thing. It just couldn't. There was literally no possible way it could mean anything less than excruciating pain, judging by the reactions the other prisoners had at its very mention. Then again, it's probably better than being killed or something.

Gruel and two other Triceratons were currently leading us through a hallway that was actually dirtier than the cafeteria. A lot dirtier. Anyway, that's not exactly what worried me. What worried me was what Jhanna and I would have to go through on the other side of the last door. I figured that most of the aliens we had seen in the dining area were in here, but I wasn't sure. I looked over at Jhanna and found that she had a stoic, cold look on her face; I guess she was trying to remain strong and unfazed by whatever we were going to see. I wanted to be strong as well, but it was hard, since I had no idea what we were gonna face. And I hated not knowing.

Gruel pushed us through the door and I was met with a bright light that attacked my eyes. After they had gotten the chance to adjust, I was able to distinguish a big room that smelled worse than the sewers back home, looking like some sort of stable with hay, straw and dirt everywhere. And everywhere I looked, there were aliens in very poor and sad shape. Most of them were big and/or muscular and looked so scary that it would make most mutants run back home with their tails between their legs. Well, if they _had_ tails, anyway. But they looked broken, disheartened, and scared. Like chased animals.

I saw Mona Lisa somewhere in the mix of aliens and I couldn't help but wonder how someone who had just told us she was careful with her life could end up here so quickly afterwards. In the corner of the room, on a bench, was that Triceraton from yesterday- I think he was called Traximus, which helped me with Rynokk. He was sitting with his elbows on his knees and his head lowered as if he was ashamed or waiting for something bad to happen… Or as if he was waiting for somebody to put him out of his misery. Gruel cleared his throat and shouted so loudly that his voice echoed throughout the room.

"Listen up, you morons! We have some fresh meat that needs to learn just how we do things around here! I trust you all to teach them that around here, you're nothing! You're below everyone _and_ everything; in fact, even _dirt_ is worth more than you! And the Triceratons are superior to every species of aliens, everywhere. Don't you filth ever forget that!" I looked around at the other aliens in the room. Were they just gonna stand there and take those insults without any protest? But they just stayed where they were and didn't say a word. Some looked rather angry, or at the very least, hurt, but they didn't say or do anything. Gruel sneered and turned away from us.

"Now, I have important things to deal with, so have fun trying to kill each other." Gruel turned around and walked out of the room, followed by the other two Triceratons. I looked at all the other aliens in the room, biting my lip. I had no idea what do next. Jhanna, however, didn't seem to feel as awkward as I did.

"So, who's in charge around here, anyway? Is anybody going to tell us what to do or are you just gonna stand there and stare at us?" She took a few steps forward, folded her arms over her chest and stared with a confident smirk at all of the other aliens in the room. One of the others, a skinny guy with long talons on his four-fingered hands and long teeth that stuck out of his lower jaw, snickered.

"Well, well, well... What do we have here? If it isn't the princess of D'hoonib. A young, sweet, precious flower in the slammer? Huh, who would've thought little innocent Starlee would end up in this place, eh, guys?" He smirked at his mates, didn't notice that Jhanna was shaking with anger. Without any warning whatsoever, she punched him right in the eyes and when he grabbed at his face, yelling in pain, she swept her leg out and knocked him off of his feet. As soon as he hit the ground, she placed her foot on his chest, pushing him down against the cold, dirty floor, making in impossible for him to escape.

"I am _not_ Starlee, you brainless excuse for a Voidlum! My name is Jhanna, and I am the strong and rebellious princess! _Not_ the sweet and innocent one! Get that through your thick skull, you moron!" The guy on the ground nodded, clearly too shocked and scared to say or do anything else. Humph, this place was crawling with cowards.

Mona Lisa stepped forward, careful to stay away from Jhanna, and walked up to me. She folded her arms over her chest, flicked her hair back and looked me straight in the eyes.

"Well, I can't say I expected to see you here- at least, not so soon. I guess you weren't kidding when you said that you've made quite the name for yourself." I rolled my eyes at her. She may have had good intentions, but so far she hadn't been much of a friend in any way.

"Yeah? Well, what exactly _is_ 'here'? What are we doing here?" Mona Lisa looked over her shoulder at the other aliens and they either ignored us or smirked at us, like they knew something we didn't… which, really, they kinda did. Mona turned back to me and shrugged.

"Well, it's kinda like a punishment room of sorts, only you never leave. When you're here, it's because you have guts- a strong spirit, or are just an all-around troublemaker. And they'll make sure to beat it out of you." She walked over to her prison mates, stopped in front of them and placed her hands on her sides. She gestured toward the middle of the room, where there was something that looked very similar to a boxing ring with floors made of stone and a fence made out of steel. The floor was bathed in red-brown flecks that I could only assume was blood.

"In there, you two will fight and fight until you drop. From early in the morning you will fight till you can't stand up anymore. So it's best for you to know that you should never fall and lose." I blinked and looked over at Jhanna, who had let that other alien up by now, and she shrugged at me.

"That's it? That doesn't sound so bad." Mona Lisa shook her head and opened her mouth, but was interrupted before she could respond. The Triceraton that sat on the bench looked up from the floor at us with tired eyes.

"It's not. It's the fact that, once you've fallen to the floor, your opponent is allowed to destroy you. That is why you have to keep yourself from losing. Every day a few of us will go up to the topside where every Triceraton guard in this prison, a whole bunch of other off-worlders, and maybe even the Prime Leader if you're really unlucky, will be there to see you fight. And there, it's a battle for your life. If you fall for even a second, you're dead." He sighed and looked both crestfallen and hardened at the same time.

"You two newbies aren't going to last the day in this place. It doesn't matter if you're the most skilled warrior in the entire galaxy; you're dead either way. We're all slaves here, and these sick games they're playing with us will be the death of us all. There's no way to escape your undoing." I gazed at him with a raised eyebrow and folded my arms over my chest. Jhanna looked over at Mona Lisa with unimpressed eyes.

"Hey, Mona? Who's Mister Optimist over there? He sure is a little ray of sunshine." Mona Lisa tried to smile at Jhanna, but was interrupted again by another alien, something that looked like a mix between a gorilla and a Sasquatch with a bright turquoise shag on the head, arms and legs, dressed in a brown, furry loincloth.

"That is Traximus: the strongest, mightiest and most skilled warrior in this Arena. He is the undisputed champion in this place, and it would be wise to show him respect and not pick a fight with him!" I rolled my eyes at him and kept my arms folded. Jhanna glared at the big monkey-sasquatch and tried to stand a little taller.

"I don't respect people unless they give me reason to. So you can tell your 'champion' that he can keep his glorious winning streak to himself." The monksquatch's eyes narrowed and I think he would have punched her had Gruel not chosen that moment to enter. He smiled at us sadistically.

"Are you all done showing these kids how this place works? Well, even if you aren't, I don't care; it's time to start fighting! And as for the few lucky ones who get to show your skills to the other Triceratons and aliens in this place: I have received news that tomorrow the Prime Leader himself will be watching. As you all know, that means all of you will stay here today and train. I want your deaths to be as bloody and merciless as possible. So, LINE UP!" He swung the whip he had in his hand and all the aliens hurried to form a straight line, right by that boxing ring thingy. Jhanna and I followed their example and took our own place in line.

Then, suddenly, I felt a figurative light bulb appear over my head. While Gruel chose two aliens to fight each other first, I turned to Jhanna and leaned in close to her ear.

"Jhanna, I think I'm having an idea… One that can help us escape." Jhanna's face brightened immediately and she smiled lightly at me.

"Really? How? What do you have in mind?" I smiled at her and opened my mouth. But before I could respond, Traximus, who stood beside me, decided to join the conversation. He leaned in closer to me and whispered in my ear.

"Don't even bother to try. I've been here for almost two decades and nobody's ever been able to escape. So do yourself a favour and lay low; you might be able to stay alive-" I rolled my eyes and had to hold back a groan of frustration. Why did everybody here have to be so pessimistic? Wherever I turned there was someone who tried to shoot down my hopes. Before I could stop myself, I turned to him and yelled straight in his face, making him jump back in surprise with comically wide eyes.

"I DIDN'T ASK FOR YOUR OPINION!" Everybody, including Jhanna, turned to me. Even Gruel appeared surprised- though he also seemed irritated and slightly amused. I turned to look at them and for a moment I thought I was gonna feel embarrassed, or at least blush a little; but I felt my frustration still burning inside of me, and so I glared at the aliens and folded my arms over my chest with as much attitude as I could muster. I might have been underestimated a lot, even by my own brothers, but when it counted, my temper could match and even surpass Raphael's.

"What are you all _staring_ at?! Haven't you ever seen a mutant turtle before?" I tried to look defiant, but the look on Gruel's face made me feel uneasy, and I darted my eyes from side to side as he walked up to me. He slapped the whip against the palm of his hand and smirked at me.

"Hmm… looks like you've still got guts, kid. Well, since you seem to have energy to spare, why don't you and your little friend start us off today?" He looked up at Traximus, slapped the whip against his knee, making him almost fall to his knees, and pointed to the ring.

"Get a move on, scum! I want to see you beat this kid's ignorance right out of him." Traximus growled under his breath but didn't say anything. We both moved into the ring and Gruel threw a huge battle-axe to Traximus, who caught it with ease. I didn't get anything, though, and I didn't hesitate to question why.

" _Hey_! Don't I get a weapon, too?" Gruel and all the other aliens laughed at me, except for Jhanna, who remained quiet.

"You? Should _you_ get a weapon? Hah! You obviously aren't a well-trained fighter, seeing how skinny and bony you are. You're not gonna last five seconds. Why should I waste my time and precious resources on you, maggot? Now, begin!" I barely had time to get angry at the statement as Traximus raised his axe and attacked. I dodged the blade, jumped up and tried to kick his jaw, but he saw the attack coming and dodged as well before he knocked me into the fence on the other side of the ring. It was like being hit by a truck, and I had to take a second to catch my breath, but I didn't get much more as he attacked again.

He swung at my neck and I barely had time to dodge, feeling the sharp edge barely missing my chin and nose. He then swung his fist at my jaw, but this time I managed to catch his wrist with both hands and stopped his punch. I barely gave him any time to react as I quickly let go of his wrist with one of my hands and punched him in the eyes, and then kicked him in the jaw as hard as I could.

He stumbled back and grabbed at his jaw, but he managed to also smirk at me. It wasn't a derogatory smirk, but rather an impressed one. He was impressed by my skills, I could see that, and that felt pretty good. But then he grabbed the axe a little harder, my instincts telling me this subtle movement would be followed by an offensive strike; I wasn't disappointed as he attacked once more.

He hefted the axe over his head and swung down at me, and I thankfully managed to leap over it and land by his back. However, I miscalculated the heavy blade's trajectory, and its powerful upward momentum as it continued its circle and went behind him allowed the toe of the hook to catch my arm, leaving a long, painful, _bloody_ gash. I cried out in pain, falling to my knees and grabbing my arm. Oh, there was so much blood! It oozed between my fingers and painted the rest of the arm a deep crimson, dripping to the floor when there was no green skin left to cover. Excruciating pain shot through my nervous system, blurring my senses temporarily as I tried to stifle both the bleeding and my agonized sob-screams.

I couldn't nurse my wound for very long, though, as I saw the axe come at me again from my peripheral vision. My muscles groaned in exhaustion and my joints ached in protest as I forced myself out of the pained haze in order to react.

I rolled out of the way seconds before I could be decapitated and then swiftly kicked the Triceraton in the head. He stumbled back again and dropped his axe. I quickly got to my feet and lunged for the weapon. Grabbed it. Swung.

The butt of the axe slammed into Traximus' head, knocking him into the fence.

A small voice in the back of my head pointed out that the other aliens were murmuring in the background, and it sounded as though they were either impressed or unsure of how to react. I looked to Jhanna, who smiled and gave me thumbs up. My knees shook in watery relief. I had done it. I'd done well.

But Gruel didn't seem as impressed. Unfortunately, before I could think of a response to his hateful glare, I was bombarded with other things to focus on as Traximus tried to punch me again. Now, as I barely dodged his fist, I saw that he was limping slightly, and I remembered that Gruel had slapped his knee with his whip. He was probably injured. I smirked and as Traximus punched, I dodged, went down low and swung the flat side of the axe, crashing it into his kneecaps, making Traximus collapse to sit on his legs and clutch especially at his bad knee. I quickly punched him under the chin with my uninjured arm and he flew back in the fence before crumpling to the floor.

He was about to get up, but I placed the blade's edge against his throat, showing him and everybody in the room that I had won the fight. I straightened my posture and stood proudly, making sure the look on my face was free of any trace of the agony I was experiencing and held only one thing: dominance.

The murmuring around me started to get louder in what I suppose was admiration. They sounded extremely impressed. Traximus looked up at me with surprised, flabbergasted eyes. But then he closed his eyes and lowered his head in shame.

"What are you waiting for? Finish me! You are the victor; it is within your right!" His expression softened into desperation. "Do me the favour to put me out of my misery!" My eyes widened at his last words, spoken quietly enough that they had clearly only been for me. Did he really expect me to finish him? I could never kill anyone, no matter how evil they were or how much they begged me. I deftly pulled the axe away from his throat and rested my other, bloodied arm on my hip.

"I don't think so. I was taught to honor life. I will never stoop down to a murderer's level." I gathered my dwindling strength and threw the axe out of ring, making the entire audience openly stare at me in surprise and amazement as the weapon clattered loudly to floor. I reached out my good hand for the beaten alien to grab and smiled kindly at him. He looked up at me as if he had no idea how to respond, which he probably didn't.

Unbidden, a bittersweet memory flew into my mind. Of myself, standing in a similar position, what I hoped was a reassuring smile on my face and my hand patiently waiting for a much smaller hand to grab it. Of the hand's owner, a small redheaded girl staring up at me with wide blue eyes, her expression telling me that she had no idea how to respond.

My heart hurt.

 _April_.

But the painful flashback was dispersed when Traximus finally smiled back and grabbed my hand, letting me pull him to his feet. He looked at me with grateful eyes, but I could tell it was for more than just helping him up and sparing him his life.

"Stop!" Gruel bellowed, his voice echoing throughout the room. Everybody turned to him, who I had admittedly forgotten about since the fight started, and he wasn't happy at all. "Warriors don't help each other! They don't show mercy! In The Arena, if a fighter is down, you are to destroy him! _Not_ spare him! Is that clear?!" Glaring at him as I went, I jumped out of the ring and marched up to him. I wasn't scared anymore, and especially not of this guy.

"Oh? Well, where _I_ come from, I was taught to cherish and protect life- not destroy it! It's a precious gift, not something you should waste! I was taught to fight with honor and dignity! If following my beliefs means sacrificing some 'master fighter' title, then so be it! I will _not_ murder someone for your sick, petty enjoyment, you pathetic coward!" I tried to stand a little taller, actually standing on my toes so I could look Gruel in the eyes better. He had a positively murderous look on his face, but it just served to fuel my fire further.

"Do you have a problem with that? Well, too bad! And if you've got something to say about it, why not take it to the ring? Since I could take the champion down, I bet I can take you down, too! You're not exactly that fit, either, you know!" I smirked at him and poked his big, fat stomach. The movement sparked pain in my injured arm and made it bleed harder, but I didn't care at the moment.

I was pushing my luck, I knew that, and I also knew that the only reason that I could take Traximus down was because he was injured. But I couldn't help it; I wanted to show that I had my moral code and that I was going to follow it, no matter what any of these guys said. In the corner of my eye I saw Traximus' eyes widen before he smiled lightly.

Gruel growled at me and hit me in the chest, making me stumble back a little (mostly because I was a bit off-balance while standing on my toes). He was about to whip me- that was painfully clear. But just as my muscles tensed in the first stage of fight-or-flight, Traximus stormed up, pushed me back slightly, and placed himself between my attacker and me. He let the whip wrap itself around his arm before he yanked it away from Gruel's hand.

"You will _not_ hurt him! I will not let you harm the one creature that I've seen in years that actually knows the right reasons to fight!" His words surprised me, and I was, to say the least, flabbergasted to see him defend me against the Master in this place. Especially after he had said that it was wiser to lay low. I appreciated it nonetheless.

Gruel growled and pointed at the line again.

"You two, get back in line! Princess, you and Mr. Fangs-n-Claws will fight next! And show no mercy whatsoever!" Jhanna smirked, looked over at the alien who had mistaken her for that 'Starlee-person', and pounded her fist into her hand.

"Oh, don't worry your sweet little head over that. I won't show him any mercy at all." The other alien gulped and they both moved into the ring. Jhanna snatched up the axe I had thrown on the floor before Gruel could take it and got ready to fight. I looked at the two with interest, and I was really sure that Jhanna was gonna win. I glanced over at Traximus and saw that was staring at me a little. I wasn't sure what to say, so I said the first thing that popped up in my head.

"Um, thank you." He looked down at me, smiled lightly and shook his head.

"No, _thank you_ , child. I have been in here for so long that I almost started to believe that nobody fought for truth and justice anymore. And I had forgotten how it looked to fight with honor. You reminded me of how and why one should fight, and have revived my hope that there are still honorable warriors out there. So, thank you." I couldn't help but smile, a wide, bright smile. He smiled back at me. "Well, you know my name, boy. What do you call yourself?" I smiled and reached out my good hand for him to shake.

"My name is Donatello, but my friends and family call me Donnie." He smiled, shook my hand and we turned back to the fight. Jhanna obviously had the upper hand since she had the weapon, and she had clearly paid the poor alien back for his insults from earlier. Traximus chuckled softly and turned back to me again.

"That girl has spunk, that is plain to see." I rolled my eyes slightly, folded my arms over my chest and nodded.

"Traximus, you have no idea..." He chuckled at me and I felt truly happy first time in a few days now. A new ally. This was great! Once Jhanna and I got a moment to ourselves, I would tell her my plan, and maybe, just maybe, Traximus would want to help us. And hopefully, if he did, he could get the other aliens to help, too, since these guys obviously wanted to escape as well. Nobody should have to suffer in this kind of prison. No matter what kind of crime they had committed.

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 **A/N: And it's done! I had a rough start of this weekend,** **since I thought my cat was dead,** **but I managed to come back swinging and I managed to finish the chapter! Now, I know that a lot of this is _very_ similar to the 2k3 episodes of Turtles in Space, when they are in prison, but after we leave the prison, I promise I will try to be a bit more original!**

 **Hope you liked this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**


	18. Chapter 17, A slip of the tongue

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Hey guys... So, I said in my last chapter that I thought my cat was dead. Well, a few days ago he disappeared, my mom said he could barely walk and he was clearly suffered. Now, he still hasn't come home, and I'm really sure he's dead. So, I was really tempted to not write anything, but I did anyway.** **Aren't I nice? Well, honestly I got a nice dose of inspiration earlier this week, which resulted in this chapter! I hope you'll like it!**

 **So, last chapter we got to see some of Traximus. Or, well, my version of him anyway, and I hope you liked him, cause you'll be seeing (or reading) a lot more of him in the future. (Or not. :-P)**

 **Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 17, An accidental slip of the tongue

I had to admit, I was impressed… And I consider myself a rather tough girl to impress. Donnie hadn't really come across as a tough fighter to me. Sure, he could defend himself, but it seemed like he mostly used his skills to defend others and not always himself- unless he had to, of course. But today, when he went up against Traximus, he had blown my mind with skills I couldn't have imagined him having. He was quick on his feet, resourceful, and tougher than he looked. Even Gruel and Traximus himself seemed pretty impressed with his skills, although Gruel seemed to be more on the irritated end of the spectrum, furious over the fact that Donnie hadn't been slain.

However, just because he was tough inside the ring didn't necessarily mean he was just as tough _outside_ the ring.

"Ow! _Ow_! Careful, it hurts!" I rolled my eyes and gripped his arm a little tighter. I was currently on my knees and trying to clean the long gash on Donnie's arm- easier said than done. Donnie, who was sitting on a bench, was constantly squirming and attempting to pull his arm away from me, which made the job a lot harder than it had to be. I guess it's true, what they said about even the toughest guys needing to cry over _some_ things. I tightened my grip on his arm and pressed the wet cloth against the wound.

"If you'd hold _still_ , it wouldn't hurt so much! Now stop squirming! Seriously, you're acting like a baby." Donnie glared at me, then hissed in pain as I dabbed the cloth over his wound. I winced in sympathy and carefully tried wipe the cloth along the length of his arm, which was covered in red-brown, partially dried blood. I looked up at him and his face was scrunched up in pain that I suppose he was trying to suppress. Didn't exactly work that well, though. I blew some of my hair out of my face and started to wipe away the rest of the blood.

"That was really good. You know, what you did in the ring, before." He looked down at me in surprise, then shrugged and tried to look humble, but I could see by the smirk on his face that he was proud of himself. Humph, typical, isn't it? Though, to be fair, I guess anyone would be proud of themselves after managing to take down a Triceraton. I know I would. So after thinking it over, I suppose I can't really blame him.

"Thanks. I mean, I know I've been training for most of my life, but I never thought that I could take an opponent that big… all alone… on the first attempt." I shook my head and wet the cloth again in the bucket of water that had been brought in earlier. The water was murky with crimson blood and other disgusting things. I seriously hoped he wouldn't get an infection from the water coming into contact with his torn arm.

"That's not exactly what I meant. I mean, don't get me wrong, that was really impressive, too. I've not seen that many aliens that have managed to take a Triceraton down. But I mean with how you showed Traximus mercy before, even though he told you that it was within your right to kill him. You stood for what you believed in, even though you knew Gruel didn't approve. And that's really strong, not to mention brave." Donnie looked down at me as if I had just grown a second head. And in a way, I could understand that. I was a lot of things: strong, tough, and a well-trained fighter, if I do say so myself. But I wasn't very compassionate or very good at understanding people's emotions. For me, the smart choice was often to think of myself before anyone else, and so for Donnie to hear me say that it was brave to spare someone else when he most likely thought I wouldn't have, well, it was really strange. He looked away and bit his lower lip as a small blush covered his cheeks.

"Oh, that... Well, I-I couldn't just kill him. I could never stoop so low as to become a murderer. That's just cowardly, and it goes against everything that my father's taught me. I don't know… it felt as though, if I did actually kill him, I would let my father down and dishonor him and his lessons." He looked down at me, straight in the eyes. "Don't you think it's horrible to kill?"

He looked at me with a kind of innocence and naiveté that I hadn't seen in him before. He almost looked like a child, with those big eyes that clearly hadn't seen the things that I had seen and accepted as more or less the norm. It really reminded me that he couldn't be much older than me, barely more than a young boy, and that he was not a scarred and experienced warrior. He was a talented fighter, sure, but his demeanour was that of a healer, a creator, a thinker- not a warrior. He had never even been off of his own planet before now. All of this was new to him and he took it all in the same way that a child would take in any new surroundings: with difficulty, but also with a determination to prove themselves as adaptable and strong. And as much as I could respect his kind nature and selfless heart, I also knew that it wouldn't help him all the way if he was going to be in space for a longer time.

I shrugged. I had never really thought about whether or not it was wrong to kill. I just thought of whether or not it was beneficial to me. But, now that he mentioned it, it made me think. Would I kill somebody if he or she begged me to? Probably if I had to, but still...

I had fought that guy with claws and teeth before and had beaten the living daylights out of him. But after he was out cold and couldn't fight back anymore, suddenly something stopped me from finishing the job. I was about chop his head off, but something told me not to. That has never happened before. When Gruel had demanded to know why I wasn't finishing him, I had gone with the excuse that I thought it was more cruel to let him live and let him suffer, which seemed to make him back off. I had always gone all the way through and done what I had to do to stay alive, but now I wasn't so sure if I could do the things I used to do so easily.

Maybe Donnie's affected me more than I thought.

"Yeah... I guess it is." Donnie nodded slowly and I rubbed away the last of the blood on his arm, cleaned the gash one last time and dumped the rotten cloth in the similarly filthy bucket, starting to look over the wound. It was really deep and probably needed stitching, but we didn't have the supplies for that so I would have to settle with bandaging it. But I wasn't sure of what I should bandage it with. I didn't have any bandages and the strange wrappings Donnie had on his feet, wrists and hands were too dirty and could increase his already high chances of getting an infection. If he got sick now, of all times, of all the places, he would definitely be in a whole new world of trouble. That is, if the sickness didn't kill him right off the bat.

Shaking my head to clear the worried thoughts from my mind, I focused all of my energy on properly assessing possible bandages.

"Do you need any help?" Donnie and I looked up and there was Traximus, a small smile on his face and a roll of bandages in his hand. I nodded and moved away from Donnie, allowing Traximus to sit down beside him and start to wrap the clean bandages around his arm. "I swiped this from Gruel's supply closet. I would've gotten a needle and some thread, but I couldn't find any. I just hope this'll be enough." Donnie looked down at his arm as the big alien wrapped it up nice and tightly.

"I'm sure it'll be fine. Thank you." He said genuinely with a kind smile on his face. Traximus looked up from his work and smiled right back, a new life in his once-dead-looking eyes. I looked at Traximus curiously. Donnie seemed to have reached him somehow with his talk of honor and fighting for the right reasons. He seemed nicer and a lot happier.

"It's the least I can do for you. Especially since I gave you that wound. And you _did_ spare my life before." Donnie smiled a bit wider as Traximus finished wrapping. Donnie flexed his arm a little and smiled at it. I could see he was holding back a grimace of pain, but not as desperately as earlier, meaning the pain levels had decreased.

"Uh, I don't mean to be disrespectful, Traximus, but what is a Triceraton like you doing here with the rest of us criminals, rebels and other scum? I mean, I haven't seen any other Triceratons in here, so..." Traximus looked down at me as though he had just noticed my presence, then sat down on the bench as well and gestured for me to do the same. Once I had taken my seat beside him, Traximus started to talk.

"Because I believe in the Triceraton ways. The _true_ Triceraton ways. You see, long ago- centuries ago, in fact- the Triceraton Republic was different. We fought to defend our people, plus countless others who needed our aid. We were an honorable race; we fought for justice and valued honor and truth above all things. But that all changed when a strange alien race from a different dimension attacked us. After a long-fought battle, they destroyed our planet with their technology. Since then our leader has been determined to find those aliens and destroy them. At any cost. Many planets and their inhabitants have suffered because of this." Traximus sighed heavily.

"I complained about this too often and too loudly and even attempted to overthrow our Prime Leader, but failed miserably and got thrown in here- partly because I was a thorn in their side, partly for the sake of making an example of my treason. I've been locked up in here for almost twenty years now." He looked away from us, down at the ground, and rubbed a hand over his face. Donnie placed his hand on his arm and looked up at the Triceraton sympathetically.

"Oh, that must've been horrible! I mean, to have your planet ripped away from you like that, leaving you all without a home! And then being thrown in jail by your own people? I'm so sorry." Traximus looked down at him and for a moment he looked surprised- almost as if he hadn't expected Donnie to care about him or his tribulations. Then he smiled lightly and placed his hand on Donnie's shoulder, his giant appendage dwarfing the turtle's in comparison.

"Hmm… you have a big heart for one so young, child. That is admirable for somebody your age. Thank you for your sympathy." Donnie smiled widely and placed his hand over Traximus'. I hummed in thought. Something didn't make sense to me, and I had to ask Traximus about it.

"But here's something I don't understand. If the Triceratons have a vendetta against this other alien race, then why have they started such a big war against my people? I mean, the Federation and the Triceratons have fought against each other for quite some time, but if they have their eyes set on other, bigger things, why bother fighting against the Federation?" Traximus looked over at me, shrugged and rested his elbows on his knees.

"I'm not sure. I think it's because the Triceratons have dominated the galaxy for the last hundred years, and now the Federation wants to be even more powerful than my people. But Prime Leader Zanramon don't care much for the Federation- he only has his eyes set on finding those other aliens' hiding place, since they've been hard to find. The Federation's only a pebble in his boot, a small trifle that holds him back from achieving his goal. His only purpose in life is to get revenge for what they did long ago, and nothing else." Donnie seemed to think of something, then sniggered a little and tried to smother it with his good hand. He kept his injured arm protectively pressed against his abdomen, I noticed absently. Both Traximus and I looked at him with questioning eyes, and I couldn't help but feel that he was acting pretty disrespectfully.

"What, if I may ask, is so funny? I don't see anything funny with this story!" Donnie took a deep, slightly shaky breath to stop himself from laughing, and then turned back to us.

"I-I'm sorry. I-it's just, well, I reckon how the Triceratons see the Federation is similar to how a threat back on my planet sees me and my family: a bit of a nuisance but nothing big enough to keep them from completing their goal. I guess I just couldn't help but react somehow." His smile slowly faded away and he looked up with a more sympathetic look on his face. "I'm sorry if I came across as disrespectful. I didn't mean to offend anyone, I just couldn't stop myself."

Traximus nodded and didn't seem too upset about anything, so I decided I could overlook it as well. Traximus looked back at Donnie and looked ready to speak, but before he could say anything, Gruel walked into the room angrily.

"Alright, listen up, you morons! It's dinnertime! Get a move on or you'll be sleeping without any food tonight- and you don't want that, because until you're one of the survivors of the games tomorrow, not one of you gets any food the entire day! Now, let's move!" We all started to migrate towards the dining room again. In the corner of my eye, I saw that Mona Lisa was staring at us, and the way she eyed Donnie said that she admired him, and yet, at the same time, was quite scared of him. I rolled my eyes. How could this girl be scared of Donnie? Especially after he had saved her from those other aliens! I guess she was being careful with new people, maybe even just people in general. If I were in her place, I guess I wouldn't trust anybody just because he saved me, either.

I walked up to Donnie's side and leaned in close to his ear.

"So, what's your idea? How do you plan on getting us out of here?" Donnie smirked and leaned towards me, meeting halfway. His eyes were sparkling with eagerness and he looked unbelievably happy.

"Okay, so you know how he said that the Prime Leader will watch us fight tomorrow? Well, I was thinking that if we could somehow get up to where he is, we could attack him instead and force him to show us where the Professor is. And from there we can find a ship on our own and escape!" I could practically hear the record scratch in the background as all of my excitement was drained in less than a second. I just looked him in the eyes and raised an eyebrow.

"Are you _serious_? That's probably the most farfetched plan I've ever heard, not to mention being WAY too risky! I mean, the Prime Leader probably has a TON of bodyguards and other Triceratons that protect him! That's NEVER going to work!" Donnie shook his head at me and smiled with a raised finger.

"Not if we get every alien in this part of the prison to do it. I mean, think about it: these aliens must've been here for quite some time, and they _must_ want to get out of here by now. I'm sure that with the right words, we can escape without any problems at all!" I rolled my eyes at his, quite frankly, childish optimism and folded my arms over my chest.

"Yeah, right. You said that about Mona Lisa, too, and you know perfectly well how _that_ particular incident turned out." Donnie folded his one good arm over his chest and pulled an exaggerated grumpy face in a juvenile imitation of me.

"Oh, come _on_! That was _one_ girl! Stop being a Pessimistic Penny! I'm sure we could get the other aliens in on this- it'll be too big for us to do on our own and you know it!" He returned to his casual stance as we continued. "Let's just try and get them to do this, and then we'll go from there." I sighed and nodded reluctantly.

"Oh, alright! But still I don't think it's going to work!" Donnie glared at me and raised an eyebrow. Quite impressive, really, considering he actually didn't _have_ eyebrows.

"Well, if all of my ideas are so bad, I'd like to see you come up with something better." I rolled my eyes and looked away. I knew he was right. I hadn't exactly come up with any ideas myself, but, in my defense, I wasn't good at coming up with plans. I usually acted without thinking much, relying more on instinct than on strategy. Starlee and Moriah were much more gifted in battle strategy than me, so they usually came up with the plans while I acted on them.

"I just hope you know what you're doing, Donnie." I muttered darkly. "I really do."

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(Donnie's P.O.V)

We all sat down at a table, Jhanna and I sitting beside each other and Traximus on my other side, all of the aliens from The Arena sharing the long table with us. I guess us Arena prisoners stuck together to some extreme. Mona Lisa looked up at me and smiled lightly.

"Uh, impressive work in the ring before. I mean, I knew you were a good fighter, but that was really impressive. I've never seen anyone take Traximus down." That monksquatch from earlier looked up and smirked slightly.

"Yeah, he's been here the longest and has never been defeated. You've got some impressive skills, kid." I couldn't help but blush and feel good about myself. Oh, what I wouldn't have given to have my family see that! However, I knew that I hadn't taken him down thanks to my skills alone.

"Thank you, but I really don't..." Traximus smacked my shell lightly and smiled.

"Yes, I have to admit that you caught me off guard. You've got talent." I shook my head and tried to eat some of that goop, which I think everyone by now knew I could barely eat without having to try and suppress the urge to puke, and looked down at the table.

"The only reason I could beat you was because you were injured. I found a weak spot and used it to my advantage. That's it. I'm not _that_ great a fighter, never have been." Traximus smacked me on the shell again, and I almost choked on the goop that I had decided to swallow at the just the wrong moment, causing me to start coughing.

"True. Very true. But you should not sell yourself short. You were still strong, fast, and skilled enough to stay alive, even without a weapon. That is impressive. Especially seeing how you are so young. I guess there's hope for the young generation out there." I couldn't respond, just tried to cough up the 'food' that was stuck in my throat. When I finally stopped coughing, I looked up at Traximus again.

"U-uh, thank you. I guess." I looked down at the table and debated whether or not I should ask them if they would want to stand up against the Prime Leader and try to escape. After a few minutes, I gathered my courage and met Trax's gaze.

"So... Um, what's the plan here? I mean, how do you plan on getting out of this hellhole?" Jhanna turned abruptly and elbowed me in the side. I glared at her for a second and then turned back to Traximus, but he just looked as if I had asked him if he had ever considered cutting his own tongue off just for laughs. He shook his head and ate some more of his own food.

"Listen, Donatello. You seem like a smart kid, and I really understand that you want to get out of this place- all of us do. But it's simply not possible. No one has ever escaped, and no one is capable of escaping, either. The best thing you can do is lie low or hope for a quick death." Another alien, a big ape-like creature with four arms and brash fur, frowned at us.

"Yeah, this place is impossible to escape. Some have tried, but no one has ever succeeded. Besides, what could we possibly do to escape? The Triceratons are superior to us in every way, we don't have weapons, and we are hopelessly outnumbered." He sighed and rested his head in his hand. "It's hopeless." I frowned. So, we were playing that way, huh? Fine, but I'm not gonna give up so easily.

"Not if we fight together! If we work together and come up with a good plan, I just _know_ that we can get out of here! Besides, I saw you all fight in the ring, and you're all great fighters! So, why do you think that you can't fight back?" Mona Lisa looked up from her plate with tired eyes and a skeptical countenance.

"Donnie, just give it up. I understand that you want to break out, but it's just impossible. No one here is willing to risk their lives to try and end this nightmare, so stop trying." I scowled at her. I could understand that these aliens had lost their hope and drive to actually live and get out of this place, but this was, in a way, pretty cowardly. I couldn't stop myself. I stood up from my seat and slammed my hands onto the table as hard as I could.

"So you would rather stay behind these cold, lifeless walls for the rest of your lives than to actually try to get out of here?! How is this living, in _any way_?! I don't know about all of you, but I would rather _die_ than to stay here and be bossed around by stupid dinosaurs who clearly think too highly of themselves and thrive off of nothing more than simple bullying!" Everybody in the room looked over at our table, but I paid them no mind- I was focused on these guys. Jhanna placed her hand on my arm and tried to make me sit down again.

"Donnie, you have to realize that these guys have been here longer than us. They may be too scared to try. Considering that everyone who's tried has been killed, I wouldn't be too surprised if they were." I turned to her and I knew my eyes were practically on fire; so was the blood in my veins.

"Scared?! Scared of _what_? That Gruel guy? Are you _kidding me_? He's nothing but a walking lump of fat with a loud voice and a whip in his hand! Some of the guys here have much more muscle than him and are much more skilled in fighting than him, so what's there to be scared of?! He's nothing; he's a loser and a loudmouth! There are things on my planet that are _way_ scarier than him! Heck, I've faced _humans_ scarier than him! I mean, for the love of _God_!, I've faced Kraang-monsters scarier than him!"

Everyone in the room gasped loudly and some aliens slapped their hands over their mouths in fear, stupefaction and anticipation. But for a few moments, I didn't notice it. I just panted heavily and tried to collect myself. But once I had and I noticed how everyone was looking at me, I turned back to Jhanna to find that she was staring at me with her jaw hitting the floor and her eyes almost popping out of her skull.

" _What_? What is everybody staring at me for?" Jhanna blinked once, then stood up and pointed at me with a shaky finger.

"You've... You've fought the _Kraang_?" She asked with slight hesitation in her voice, like she wasn't sure if she had heard right. I looked to the right, then to the left. Down at the floor. Then back at Jhanna.

"Uh...Yeah, what about it? I mean, how do you know about-?" Traximus jumped up from his seat, grabbed my shoulder in a tight grip and spun me around so he could face me. I couldn't help but jump at the sudden movement. He then leaned in closer, only inches away from my face.

"You have actually been up against the Kraang? You have fought those stinking slimy creatures on your own planet?" Something in his voice made me shudder and I tried to pull away from his grip, to no avail. I nodded slowly and leaned my face as far away from his as my neck would allow. Mona Lisa gasped softly, standing up from her seat and placing her hand over her mouth in awe.

"How... How did you survive them? I mean, the Kraang are heartless, heedless _monsters_! They destroy everything in their path!" I chuckled softly and finally managed to pry Traximus' hand away from my shoulder.

"Well, I can't really argue with you on that one. I mean-" I blinked for second. 'How did you survive them?' What was _that_ supposed to mean? I looked back at Mona Lisa and took a step forward with a confused expression. "What do you mean, 'how did you survive them?' And how do you know of the Kraang-" I froze. Wait a second. An alien race from another dimension had destroyed the Triceratons' planet centuries ago... Ugh, how could I have been so stupid? Of _course_ it had to be them. I turned back to Traximus and looked him in the eyes.

"The Kraang destroyed your planet, didn't they?" He nodded slowly, but his face showed no sadness for the loss of his planet, but rather a slightly more protective spark. He quickly placed his hand over my mouth and shushed me loudly. He looked around to see if Gruel was in the room and then turned back to me again and removed his hand.

"Yes. If you want Gruel to stay off of your shell, then I'd suggest you keep quiet about the Kraang around here. It's true, the Kraang are the aliens that destroyed our planet a long time ago, but they are not to be spoken of in this place. I had hoped you didn't know about them, but you clearly do, so, for your own good, keep that to yourself, okay?" I nodded, opened my mouth to respond, but before I could...

"He doesn't have to. I have heard quite enough." Everybody in the room turned to the doors and saw Gruel standing there with the same twisted smirk on his face that he always had when he was in control. Or at least, when he _thought_ he was in control. I tried to run away from him, but another Triceraton walked up behind me and grabbed me by the shell, lifting me off of the floor and high enough so that I was at Gruel's eye level.

"So... You know of the Kraang, huh? Do ya, kid?" I sneered at him. I may have accidentally revealed to him that I had faced the Kraang, but I hadn't said that they were crawling over my planet like bugs. I had to choose my words carefully.

"What's it to you, Garbage Breath?" Gruel smirked at me, grabbing my jaw and forcing me to look into his eyes.

"Hmm, you're cocky. I have to admit; your guts and your attitude impress me. Most aliens would have let their spirit break by now, but you seem to have decided to stay strong. That's impressive for someone so young and so small." His smirk widened a little. "Too bad it's all in vain." Jhanna ran forward to help, but was grabbed by another alien, who held her back- as best as he could, anyway.

"Leave him _alone_!" She tried squirm away from the creature's hands, but he was clearly too strong for her. Gruel looked up at the Triceraton who held me by the shell and smirked wickedly.

"Take him to the Prime Leader. I'm sure he'll be thrilled to hear all about what this little boy has to say about the Kraang." He nodded and started drag me away. I tried to fight back. I kicked, screamed, yelled and punched, trying my best to get away, but his hands were like a vice. It was impossible to escape.

"Let me go! You can't do this! Hey, get your stinking paws off of me this instant!" He just rolled his eyes, chuckled, and dragged me through the door, not even flinching as they closed with a heavy _SLAM_. And I knew I was in trouble. Boy, was I in trouble.

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 **A/N: Dun, dun, dun! Oh boy, somebody's in trouble! Okay, I was planning on writing this longer but I decided it was better to leave off on a cliffhanger. Wasn't it? I really hope you'll like this chapter, cause I could really use some nice words right now. On a slightly lighter note, this is the longest chapter I've written in a while, so yay for me.**

 **I hope you liked this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	19. Chapter 18, Problem with the PrimeLeader

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: New update! And I'm really excited about this chapter, because after this I can finally put the story in motion- the real story! And I hope you'll look forward to see how it turns out.**

 **Hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 18, Problem with the Prime Leader

I closed the door behind me, leaned back against the cold metal and sighed heavily. Alone again. Just how I liked it right now, when I had a hard time trying to comfort and look after everyone. Splinter was still just as heartbroken as he had been for the last week, and I really couldn't blame him. Losing one child is bad enough, but losing _another_ one? And a child that he had gotten to know too? Okay, I'm not saying that losing Karai was a better thing than losing Donnie, but he hadn't known her for more than a few weeks and he was probably mostly grieving over how he never really got a chance to love her for who she was, or get to know her. He was probably grieving over what never happened rather than losing a person close to him. But Donnie? He had watched him grow up, had taught him everything he knew and had seen him learn much more than what he propbably had expected. He'd watched him grow and develop into what I'm sure was the best he could imagine for Donnie. That was probably a lot harder and more heartbreaking to lose.

Raph was out again, but this time with Casey. How did I know that? Well, Casey had told me so himself. He had called me and told me about what happened last night with him and Raph. I had been thinking about talking to Raph about almost killing somebody out of anger for actions he saw in himself, but when I thought about it some more, I came to the conclusion that it would be wiser to leave him alone. He was probably beating himself up about it enough already, and on top of having a hard time dealing with Donnie's death, Raph probably wouldn't benefit in the slightest if I went on one of my lectures with him. He was a horrible state of denial and simply refused to believe that Donnie was dead- he kept on trying to convince us that he was alive out there and was trying to come home again. I felt so bad for Raph. He had such a hard time getting through his grief.

And Mikey, well, he was heartbroken as well, but in a different way than Splinter and Raph. He hardly ever smiled anymore; in fact, he barely talked anymore. He simply lied on the couch and watched TV all day without ever actually watching. He just stared at the screen with eyes that were dead to the world. He refused to eat, and if he did eat it was very, very little.

Poor baby brother. He and Donnie had always been so close. Ever since we were little kids, they had always played together and had fun together. Even though Mikey usually decided what they would do, Donnie never seemed like he wasn't enjoying their time together. I guess that was because I argued so much with Raph that the two desperately craved any brotherly attention they could give each other.

Donnie had always been very patient with us, but he had been especially patient with Mikey in particular. He had never gotten too mad at him and had always tried to take time out his day to make sure Mikey was happy. And now he wasn't here to do that. I tried my best to help him and comfort him, but it was painfully obvious that I wasn't Donnie. I could never take Donnie's place. I mean, who am I trying to fool? I didn't _want_ to take his place. I wanted him to be _here_ , with us. I wanted him to come home.

I sighed heavily and tried to hold back tears. I let myself collapse onto my bed, burying my face into the pillow, the bedframe squeaking in protest. I tried to calm down by taking deep breaths, but I still felt a few tears manage to slip through my half-shut eyes.

What can I say about this week that I haven't already said? Donnie hasn't been gone for a week and already it feels like he's been gone for years. I just don't know how to handle all of this; it's just too much and I have no one to really turn to. I know Mikey told me that I don't have to handle all of this on my own, but I don't know what else to do. I don't know who to talk to about how I feel. I guess I could talk to Mikey, maybe April, but I don't know.

"Oh, Donnie..." I whimper to myself and bury my face deeper into the pillow, wrapping my arms around the soft materials and trying to my dry my eyes with the soft cloth. I sat up after a few minutes and take a few deep breaths, then reached out to the nightstand table beside my bed, pulled out one of the drawers and took out a small Space Heroes-themed journal and a pen before leaning back against the pillows and opening the journal to a clean page. I guess you could say that I've found an output for my feelings and emotions.

 _Journal entry: July 20th, 2014_

 _Hi, Donnie. I know that you'll never read this, but I need to get this off my chest. Ever since that fight we had before we left on patrol, and the fight with the Kraang, I've thought so much about how I've been treating you for the past few months… And how much your death has affected us. Mikey's inconsolable and has practically stopped eating and talking. Heck, he doesn't even smile anymore. It just doesn't feel right to see Mikey not smiling. Raph is still in denial and believes you're out there, somewhere, and refuses to listen to anyone who tries to tell him otherwise. I'll hate to see how he'll take the memorial ceremony that we plan on having next week._

 _Splinter is heartbroken and won't do anything but sit in his room and meditate and try to push through his grief. And I... Well, I can't say I'm doing so well myself. I just don't have any motivation to do much of anything anymore. I try to train and comfort the others, but I can't say it's doing so much. We all miss you too much._

 _Donnie, I don't know how we're ever going to be the same without you here. We need you. I need you. And I never realized how much I depended on you until now. Not just because of your smarts, but also because of who you are, and that you're my little brother. You're all my little brothers, but you have always been one of the little brothers- unlike Raph, who always acts like he's so much older than fifteen. You were always full of life and never hesitated to live your life to the fullest. You were young and you acted young, despite your intelligence and your maturity; you always found time to just be a teenager, even if it was after days of endless pressure to grow up and fix all of our problems._

 _I've realized that that I haven't listened to you much lately, and I don't understand why I haven't. I guess I can say that I've been so caught up with the Kraang being back, finding out that Karai is actually Splinter's daughter and all the other stuff that's happened, but I know it's not a good enough excuse._

 _For so long I've been thinking of no one but myself and of Karai being with her real father. I know I've said that I just want her to know the truth and for her be with her real family, but I guess I've just been using that as an excuse to get what I wanted. I've been selfish and uncaring about what's right in front of me. And since Raph hasn't been that supportive of the idea and has done nothing but argue with me about whether Karai might be good or not, and Mikey hasn't really cared much about it, I guess I've been taking out my stress and frustrations on you. I was so caught up in my own problems and my own feelings that I failed to see how you felt more and more unhappy and rejected as the weeks passed. My only excuse on that one is that since you've always been there to see the bright side of my problems, I sometimes forget that you have your own problems. And when you tried to talk to me about them, I wasn't there for you, like I should have been. I failed you, little brother, and for that I doubt I'll ever stop being sorry. I took advantage of your optimism and selflessness and willingness to help, and I never offered anything in return. Well, nothing that you deserved after all you had done. I doubt I could ever properly make it up to you, even if you were here with us._

 _It's hard for me to say, but I don't care much for Karai anymore. At least, not now, anyways. All I know is that I miss you, and that is much bigger than her for the time being. Ever since the day Splinter bought us at that pet store, we've always been together and have always been there for each other. And I never imagined that I would have to face all of the things the future will throw at us without all of my little brothers at my side to support me._

 _I suppose all I can do is pray that Raph is right, that you're somehow alive out there and will be able to find your way home; but I still know that at some point, I'll have to move on and let this go, even though it'll be the hardest thing I've ever done._

A tear fell from my eye and hit the page, smudging the word 'done,' and I quickly wiped my hand over my face to stop any more tears from falling. I clenched my jaw and tried to keep the sobs at bay as I wrote the final part of my letter before closing it.

 _I love you, Donnie. I love you more than you'll ever know. I miss you just as much, and I'm so sorry for not showing it to you before. I'm sorry for being too blind to see how much I love and need you._

I closed the journal again and placed it back in the drawer before closing it, then sat with my back against the bed frame, wrapping my arms around my legs and letting my tears fall down my cheeks. But I refused to break down sobbing. Not again. In the corner of my eye, I saw that the book I had borrowed from Donnie was placed on my nightstand table. I remembered that I had finished it a few nights back and put it there afterwards. So I stood up, grabbed the book and walked over to my bookshelf to put it in its place.

Just as I put the book back in its place, I saw the thick, brown leather book that had fallen off of the shelf when I had pulled out Carrie. I thought about it. I couldn't remember ever reading a book that thick of a book made out of leather, so I pulled it out of its place and opened the first page to read the title. But then I saw that it wasn't a book, but a photo album. And I recognised it as the photo album that Splinter had filled with pictures of us from childhood up until now.

I sat down on my bed and started to look through the pages that were filled with pictures of us, and every once in a while I saw a picture with Splinter, April and Casey in them, too. There were four pictures on each page and on the page I currently looked at, they came from (I think) when my brothers and I were in between one and six years old. There was one of Raph and Spike, one of me in the dojo with my first wooden practice sword, one of me with Mikey blowing bubbles in the living room and one with Donnie, holding onto the strap of a big duffle bag stuffed with his books, tools and small toys that I guess he wanted to fix, trying to carry the whole thing by himself, his face scrunched up in determination and effort. I chuckled lightly at his frustrated look, feeling fresh tears starting to form in my eyes.

The next four pictures were of all of us, or at least more than one of us. One was of us when we were around five years old with me, Mikey and Raph in Splinter's arms but with Donnie standing beside Splinter, in the background, almost behind him entirely. I frowned slightly and looked at the next picture. This one was of Raph, Donnie and I when we were three years old, watching some movie on TV. Raph was sitting beside me, but Donnie was sitting almost completely behind me. I narrowed my eyes in confusion and shook my head lightly. What the heck was _that_ about? Another picture was of Raph, carrying Mikey on his back piggyback-style, and I was standing beside them both and smiling at them. In the background, you could see the couch and a glimpse of Donnie reading, eyeing us slightly, as if a bit jealous or at least a little left out. The last one had the three most outgoing of us all sleeping on the couch, Donnie reading a book on the floor. I looked back on all the pictures of us and each and every one had one thing in common: Donnie was always in the background or by himself.

I thought back to when we were kids. I did remember us playing together, all four of us, but I also remember that there were times when Donnie just followed us along and did whatever we told him to do, as if he was scared to speak up. That or he was standing in background, looking at us while we played. But I had never thought much of it. I guess I had always thought that he didn't want to play with us. And as we got older and developed our own interests, we all started to do our own things, on our own; but we still often hung out as brothers do. But Donnie usually stayed in his lab, all alone. When we teased him about it, he always said something along the lines of enjoying the peace and quiet that solitude brought; but when we saw the flicker of sadness in his eyes or heard the obvious falsehood in his voice, we never thought much of it and never acknowledged noticing it in the first place. He didn't speak much unless spoken to, and when he did get bold enough to initiate a conversation, usually about something he had invented- something he loved and obviously just wanted to share with us- we always told him to be quiet or to 'speak English,' which frustrated him to no end. But maybe it had done more than that- maybe it hurt him, too? The other two and I had once discussed what exactly that unknown expression was that he always wore as we (rather rudely) dismissed him back to his lab, but we were unable to figure it out and eventually had dismissed this, as well.

But now, thinking back, I knew exactly what it was and why it was so unfamiliar on Donnie, the optimistic prodigy that he was: it was anger, hurt, a little self-loathing, and, most of all, sadness, all rolled into one. It was a look of utter dejection.

I shook my head, closed the album and stood up from my bed. I wasn't getting anywhere, debating with myself like this. I needed some perspective from somebody on the outside, somebody who knew Donnie well, but not in the same way that my brothers, Splinter or I knew him. And I knew just who to get it from.

* * *

(Donnie's P.O.V)

"Let go of me! I can walk myself, you know!"

I was shoved through a double door and barely had time to catch my balance before that Triceraton grabbed me by the shoulders again and led me up to a desk where another Triceraton sat with his elbows resting on the table and with a smirk on his face. It didn't take a genius to figure out that this was that 'Prime Leader' they had been talking about ever since I got here. And if I had thought that Gruel was nothing but a lump of walking fat with loud words, _boy_ was this guy worse.

The Prime Leader was a short, fat Triceraton with no muscle on him whatsoever- only pure fat. He was also a lot shorter than most of the Triceratons I had seen so far. A _lot_ shorter. He was, at the moment, eating his dinner, a huge chicken leg (or at least that's what it _looked_ like) and something that I assumed was salad. Watching him was not a pretty sight. He was slobbering and drooling and chewing with his mouth open. He didn't look that smart, dignified, or even _strong_ , something most Triceratons seemed to be. _How_ could a guy like _this_ be the leader of an _entire_ empire? He looked like a slob and somebody that couldn't be trusted with leading a dog down the sidewalk.

In a corner was another Triceraton, one I that recognised as Commander Mozar, one that I had seen only when we were abducted from D'hoonib. A very strong-looking, tall and rather lean Triceraton who had a serious look on his face, his hands behind his back. He almost looked like a statue, he stood so still.

The Prime Leader gazed up from his dinner at the Triceraton guard who had led me in and dropped his chicken leg onto the plate, wiping his mouth with his arm. He looked at me and then back to the other Triceraton.

"What is it? Can't you see that I'm busy eating here? This had better be important!" The guard bowed in respect and placed his clenched fist over his heart. I guess it was their way of greeting their leader.

"I apologise for interrupting, Prime Leader Zanramon, but Master Gruel sent me here and told me bring this kid that was with the Fugitoid." The Prime Leader, apparently named Zanramon, rolled his eyes and waved his hand dismissively at me, his fingers dripping with grease. I had to bite my tongue so I wouldn't say ' _EWWW_!' or anything else that was equally stupid.

"I have better things to worry about than some snarky kid. The Federation is probably on their way here right now to try and get the Fugitoid back, and we have to prepare for that! I don't care much for some weak little brat! Take him back to his cell and leave me in peace." He started to eat his food again, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him. Yeah, wasn't this a _great_ leader? Dismiss a follower before he knew what he wanted to say. If it had been Leo, he would've listened to what this guy had to say before deciding if it was unimportant or not. This guy clearly didn't care, and he was supposed to lead his entire people in comparison to the three brothers and two teenaged humans that Leo did. Sorry, Zanramon, but my sixteen-year-old big brother's got you beat so far when it comes to leadership.

I almost felt tempted to throw up at the sight of his table manners. Key word: _tempted_. Oh, geez, and here I thought _Mikey_ had bad table manners! This was just plain nasty. At least Mikey could eat without getting half the food all over his face and fingers. I placed my hand over my stomach and stuck my tongue out, making a silent 'yuck' sound when neither the Prime Leader nor Mozar or the guard could see.

The guard took a small step forward and released his grip on my shoulders. I immediately started to massage my neck and shoulders to relieve the slight pain that the grip that left behind. Geez, did everybody in here to try and crush me or injure me, even when they weren't supposed to? It's like Leatherhead all over again, except that this time, the target is more than just my face. I didn't know whether that was a good thing or not.

"Yes, I am aware that the Federation is on their way here, but I have some very important information for you. You will like to hear what I have to say, I guarantee it." He looked up from his meat, rolled his eyes again and gestured for the guard to talk, looking rather impatient. Yeah, great leader right there.

"This child says that he has experience with fighting aliens on his own home planet. And not just any aliens. He's been fighting products of the Kraang's experiments, as well as the Kraang themselves." Zanramon dropped his leg of meat and stared at the guard and then at me with wide, interested eyes. He stood up from his chair, walked up to me and grabbed me by the chin, forcing me to look into his eyes. Man, my chin was going to get calloused soon from how often these Triceratons liked to grab it. I couldn't help but cringe as his fingers smeared grease all over my face and his breath- that smelled worse than moldy food that's been lying around in the sewers for five months- billowed into my nostrils.

"You know of the Kraang? And you've fought them on your home planet?!" I said nothing. I knew that these guys would most likely attack Earth if I said that the Kraang used our planet as their hiding place, so I had to keep quiet. I pressed my lips together and glared up at Zanramon with narrowed eyes. I expected him to get angry, but instead he started to chuckle and let go of my chin.

"Hehe… so you're the quiet, difficult type of prisoner, huh? Well, I've dealt with quite a few of those kinds of prisoners. Don't you worry, I'll get you to talk somehow." He walked up to Mozar, gestured to him to lean down and then whispered something in his ear. I had hold back a laugh. It just looked so ridiculous that the big, tough leader of this alien race had to practically stand on his toes in order to whisper something in his Commander's ear. Mozar nodded to whatever his leader had to say, bowed and then left the room.

Zanramon sat down in his chair again and smirked at me. I suppose I should've been scared or at least a little worried, but I just glared at the Triceraton in front of me and folded my arms over my chest. I refused to look weak. Especially in front of this guy, who I had a hard time taking seriously. But he just smiled ominously at me.

"So, wanna tell me your name, boy? I would like to address you by your name." I just glared at him, narrowed my eyes even more, pressed my lips tighter together and tensed the arms over my chest. Zanramon raised an eyebrow at me, his smile fading slightly, and he looked over at the guard behind me. "Do you know his name, soldier?" The Triceraton shook his head slowly.

"I am not sure, Prime Leader. I believe his name starts with a D. Domino, perhaps? Da Vinci? Dorcas?" I turned around sharply to glare hatefully the guard behind me, anger burning in my eyes. I said I wouldn't talk about the Kraang; I didn't say I couldn't talk at all. I clenched my fists.

"It's _Donatello_! My name is Donatello! DON-A-TELL-O! Donatello! Get it right, you moron!" Zanramon chuckled at me, intertwined fingers supporting his chin. He seemed to be enjoying this for some reason.

"Well then, Donatello, would you be so kind as to tell us what you know of the Kraang? I assure you that if you tell us, I will let you and your friends go; you can leave this prison behind and never return." I raised my eyebrow at him and once again gently folded my arms over my chest.

"Where is Professor Honeycutt? What have you done to him?!" Zanramon kept his smug smile and shook his head slightly. He stood up from his chair, walked up to me, pinched my cheek and shook it slightly, making me frown and try to pull my head away as I grimaced in disgust.

"All in good time, my boy; all in good time. But first, please, do tell me what you know. I promise that I will let you leave this prison." I pulled my face away from his grip and returned my good arm to cross over my chest, injured arm limply resting on top of it.

"Well, thank you for your offer, _Zanramon_ , but I wasn't born yesterday, nor am I a complete nincompoop, thank you very much. How exactly am I supposed to know that you will hold your end of the bargain if I tell you what I know? And even if you do intend to keep your word, why should I believe you? So far your people have not exactly been all that kind or cautious with me or my friends. So why should I believe that you would be so kind as to let us go?" Zanramon smirked, walked back to his chair and sat down again.

"That is a very good question, Donatello. Well, you see, my people has had a, well, a bone to pick with the Kraang for quite some time, since they robbed us of our home world. We only want to pay them back for what they did to us. You would be doing us a favour." I took a deep breath. I had to be calm, collected, and think this through. If I said the wrong thing, it could mean disaster for me, my friends or for Earth. So I lowered my arms and tried to look less defensive.

"I... I guess I can understand why you want to hunt them down and get revenge on them for what they did, but I don't know if I can tell you what I know about the Kraang. I'm sorry, but I just don't trust you enough to tell you." The guard grabbed me by the shoulder again and looked up at his leader.

"Shall I give him a whipping? That might make him talk." But Zanramon raised his hand and shook his head.

"Oh, no, no, no. That won't be necessary. I can handle this just fine without any threats of force." He turned back to me. "Now, I understand your suspicion against my people. But I'm sure you understand that this is a simple task. All you really have to do is tell me where the Kraang are and you may go free, along with your friends." Suddenly the doors opened again and Mozar walked in, a familiar robot in tow.

"Get your hands off of me! I have one more day before the deadline your leader set for me, now let me go-!" The Professor! I was caught off guard and I tried to run up to him, but the guard still had his hand on my shoulder, which held me back. But it didn't stop me from using my voice.

"Professor!" The robot looked up eyes widening. Or, well, as much as they could, anyway, seeing as he didn't have any eyelids.

"Donatello? What are you doing here? Where is Jhanna?" Before I could answer, Zanramon interrupted me and he walked up to us. He grabbed me by the chin- ew ew ew _ew_!- and looked me in the eyes again. These creatures were all about forced eye contact. His eyes were a disgusting mustard yellow that I could honestly go without seeing ever again.

"Now you listen up, here! I tried to be nice, but now I will have to be hard on you. If you won't take my offer, then I'm sorry to say that the robot will executed." I turned to the Professor, then back to Zanramon again. He had made a small mistake now, and I had been quick to catch it, as usual.

"Oh, and here I thought you needed him. For what? Oh, yeah, for fighting off the Federation, right? I thought he was important to you." But, much to my surprise, he just started laughing aloud, throwing his back to an odd angle from he was laughing too hard. When he had stopped laughing, he turned back to me and dried away a few tears that had formed in his eyes.

" _Need_ him? That robot isn't worth anything more than a few rusty screws. No, no no, we don't need him at all. But the Federation has tried to overthrow us for a long time, and we cannot have that, can we? So, we have to stop them in every way we can. By taking a very dangerous weapon from them, for example. That way they'll stay as weak as they are until we have time to squash them like the lowly bugs they are. No other aliens will be stronger, mightier or more powerful than the Triceratons! No other aliens at all!" I inwardly sighed at first; redundant Triceraton is redundant. Then the meaning of his words crashed down on me. That hadn't worked as well as I had hoped it would. And I slowly started to become desperate.

"Yeah, but if _that's_ what you're willing to do to another alien race just because they want to overthrow you- just a small nuisance to your mighty people- then what does that mean for my home planet? What does that mean for the people of Earth? What are you going to-" I realized my mistake too late and gasped slightly as Zanramon stopped short when he heard me say 'Earth.' He turned to me, quicker than lightning.

"What did you say? Earth? Is that your home planet? Are the Kraang hiding there?" I gulped and slowly took a step backwards.

"Uh, did I say Earth? Oh, no, that's not my-" I backed away from him, but he just followed me and backed me up against a wall.

"The Kraang have been hiding on a different planet all this time! What a fool I am! I should have realized that they would hide on an underdeveloped planet where we couldn't track them down! Genius on their part, but it won't save them!" He turned to Mozar, who still had a grip on the Professor. "Tell the scientists to find as much information on Earth as they can. Forget about the Fugitoid and the Federation! Tell them to start looking for The Heart of Darkness!" I felt my blood freeze in my veins; I could barely breathe. What was he planning to do? I turned to the Professor, who looked equally scared. But he shook his head at me. He clearly didn't know what they were talking about.

"What are you talking about? What are you going to do to my planet?!" I yelled at him, feeling the panic and fear start to take control of me. Zanramon looked down at me again and sneered.

"Thank you, my boy! Thanks to you, we can finally put an end to the Kraang, once and for all! Your planet, however, is probably too infected with the Kraang's influence, so I am afraid it'll have to be destroyed. Nothing personal, but we simply cannot allow the Kraang to survive in any way. No hard feelings, kid." I felt my entire world shatter and I could barely stand up anymore. I felt tears of fear, anger and panic form in my eyes and I while I tried to fight them off, I felt a few fall down my cheeks. I flew onto Zanramon's arm and tried to hold him back, but from what I wasn't sure. I was acting purely on instinct now.

" _NO_! I won't let you do this! You can't destroy my planet! There are innocent people there! People that have done you no harm! You can't do this!" Zanramon grabbed my bad arm and, while the pain distracted me, threw me to be caught by the guard.

"Take them both back to the prison! I will enjoy seeing them both executed tomorrow in the fight!" He turned back to Mozar, who still hadn't left the room. "Gather as many soldiers as you can and tell them to get ready to leave. We will all leave first thing after the morning fight tomorrow! I will take the pleasure of seeing these two and the princess of D'hoonib die before I set off to destroy that Kraang infested planet." Mozar bowed and left the room.

I felt the guard behind me grab me by the shell again as he started to drag me away. He had the Professor's arm in the other hand. But I still tried to fight back, even though I knew it was all in vain. I bit, kicked, punched and screamed at the top of my lungs to try and get away. I was hysterical, inconsolable, feral. Before the door closed, I saw Zanramon smirk evilly, almost sardonically, at me.

"Thank you, Donatello. I couldn't have done this without you." I felt my heart stop beating, tears falling down my cheeks, and I stopped fighting the Triceraton's grip on me. It was pointless. And I knew that Zanramon was right. If I had just stayed quiet, thought my words over and not said things without thinking, this wouldn't have happened. I had lost my cool, I had been caught off guard, and my brain had stopped functioning as it should. And that had cost a lot more than it should have.

There was no point in doing anything anymore. If I didn't have my planet, my home, or my family; there was no point in living anymore. If I couldn't find a way to stop the Triceratons, so I might as well let this world be done with me.

My family, my home, my planet- my _everything_ was doomed. Earth was doomed. And it was all my fault.

* * *

 **A/N: Uh oh! We're in some serious trouble now, and how are we going to get out of it? Well, you'll just have to keep reading! I just hope this wasn't too rushed, but if it is, I apologize but I really wanted to get this done.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	20. Chapter 19, We have to get out of here!

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Hi guys, I'm back... Okay, I feel like a broken record player that's stuck on repeat, repeating the same old stuff over and over again, but now, I feel like I have to, as an excuse. Yesterday, we put my cat Alfons out of his misery and buried him minutes after. So with him, I've lost at least three people that have been close to me, this year. That includes my little sister, my grandpa and now my cat. So I'm pretty sad and emotionally unstable right now, so this chapter may not be the best. Just saying. You have been warned.**

 **Okay, so I have some other news. I will be going away for Christmas next week on sunday, and be with my cousins for about a week. Now, I will bring my Mac, but I'm not sure if I can update as much since I'm unsure about how good their wifi is. Just a heads up.**

 **And also, on a quick note, I DO NOT ship Capril or Apriltello, but in order for this story to go the way I want it to, April will have feelings for Casey so please keep your fanrage to yourself.**

* * *

Chapter 19, We have to get out of here!

I sat on my bed and tried to study, but as much as I tried to focus on the subject and memorise my notes about biology and how the central nervous system worked, I just couldn't focus. My thoughts always shifted to the turtles. And one turtle especially insisted on disturbing my brain.

Oh, Donnie. Why did you have to leave us so soon? I had only known Donnie for almost a year, but I still couldn't imagine a life without him. I can't even begin to imagine what his family is going through right now. Poor guys, they must be heartbroken right now. I had been an only child for all of my life, with very few friends, so I couldn't even begin to understand how it felt to lose a sibling. Though I had lost my mother… but that was ten years ago, so I couldn't exactly give that many good tips on how to help get them through their grief. How were they going to get through it all? And how was I gonna be able to get through all of this? I mean, Donnie was my best friend. He was always willing to help me with everything. Only about two weeks ago he had helped me get my father back- for the second time, now! How would we ever bounce back from something like this?

I sighed and closed the notebook in my lap. Things had been a little... tense between us the past few weeks. Donnie and me, I mean. Especially since Casey joined the team almost two months back. They had been at each other's throats for quite some time, but that wasn't the only reason things had been a little tense between the two of us. I knew Donnie had feelings for me. I mean, anybody with a brain could figure it out- he wasn't exactly subtle about it- but I just didn't think I could return those feelings. I mean, Donnie was sweet, kind, and a really good friend, but I hadn't thought that it could ever work out between the two of us. But I had had no idea how to break that to him _without_ breaking his heart. Ugh, why does life have to be so complicated?

I was yanked out of my thoughts when I heard a soft knocking on my bedroom window and looked up. Leo stood there, waving slightly at me with an awkward smile on his face. I got out of bed, approached window and opened it.

"Leo? Hi. It's great to see you. It's been a while since I heard from any of you. Well, except when I talked to Mikey the other day." Leo nodded, and I noticed that he had something under his arm. Something brown, leathery and book-like. I also noticed that Leo himself looked pretty weary. His posture was slumped, his skin slightly paler, and he had bags under his tired grey-blue eyes. His eyes were also a bit reddened, which gave me the indication that he had been crying. He still tried to smile and looked me in the eyes.

"Hey, April. Good to see you, too. Look, I need an opinion on something, and I can't ask the others about it. I don't think they'd be able to help me get a good point of view on this. I need somebody from the outside who can give an opinion. Do you have time?" An opinion? What did he have in mind this time? But I nodded nonetheless and stepped out of the way for him, gesturing at him to come on in.

"Of course, come in." Leo jumped through the window and I quickly closed it behind him. He sat down on the bed and gestured at me to sit beside him. I sat down and looked curiously at the book that he had now placed in his lap. It looked like an old photo album- but why would Leo bring a photo album here? Maybe he needed help with a good picture of Donnie for that memorial ceremony they were gonna have next week.

"I found this in my room today, and I noticed something that I found kind of interesting." He opened the book and the pages showed eight pictures of the guys when they were small- I had to hold myself back from going 'Aww!' at them, 'cause they were all so adorable. But I figured it wouldn't be very respectful to do so, so I kept quiet. Leo pointed at four pictures that showed all the turtles, or at the very least, three of them, and then looked up at me.

"Okay, I want you to look at these pictures, very carefully, and tell me what you see." I leaned over the pages and looked at the pictures Leo had pointed out. One was of Leo, Raph and Mikey playing together, with Donnie reading in the background, another one with the three oldest watching TV together, the third one had all four turtles sleeping on the couch- except Donnie, who was reading on the floor- and the last one was of all turtles and Splinter together, hugging each other and just looking cute. I tried to look at all these pictures and see what I assumed Leo saw, but I didn't really get it. I looked up at him and shrugged helplessly.

"I don't get it. What am I supposed to be looking for? What are you seeing that you want me to see?" Leo moved at little closer to me and pointed at the pictures again.

"Okay, well, think of it this way: look at the pictures and look for Donnie in each of them." I nodded and tried again. And this time, I saw something. In each of the four pictures, Donnie was in the background or shoved behind somebody else. That did seem a little strange. I looked up at Leo, who looked out the window and refused to meet my eyes.

"Tell me, April, have we really been so dismissive towards Donnie? Have we really treated him so poorly that he's always stuck to the background, too scared to come out? And tell me the truth, April; I don't want you to sugar-coat _anything_." I bit my lip and looked away from him. How was I supposed to answer that? I didn't even know how they grew up together, let alone how they got along when they were little, so how would I know? I carefully looked back at Leo, who was squirming slightly where he sat, as if afraid of my answer.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but why are you asking me this? I mean, why _me_? Why not Raph and Mikey or even Splinter? You guys grew up together; how would I know how you treated him when you were kids?" Leo sighed and looked back me, placed one hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes.

"Because you were Donnie's best friend. You knew him in a way the guys and I didn't. He was willing to open up to you a bit more, talked to you about things he didn't talk with us about. Or at least, so I assume. Come on, April, please; Donnie must- at some point- have complained about us to you! Please, April, I need to know!" I bit my lip, took a deep breath and then gazed into his blue eyes.

"Well, I guess he _has_ vented a little bit every once in a while, but it's not to the point where I would say that he has ever been _mad_ at you guys. He's mostly been frustrated about how you're not listening to him about stuff, but honestly, he's never really talked about how he feels about things. When I ask him about what's wrong or if he's feeling alright, he always shrugs me off and says that he's fine." Leo looked down at the floor and removed his hand from my shoulder.

"Oh..." I felt bad, seeing him like this, so I placed my arm around his shoulders and tried to hug him, but he turned away slightly from me which made it a little hard to do.

"But I _can_ say that, from what I've seen, you guys can be a little quick to shut him away and to make him stop talking about the things he really loves. To not listen to somebody -in this case, Donnie- is like saying he's not good enough or that he doesn't matter. Whether or not you meant to, you were basically saying 'you're not worth my time.' If that's how you've always treated him, then it was most likely years ago when he actually started believing that. And feeling like you're not good enough or worth another's time and energy can lead to a person developing trust issues or just having a hard time opening up to people in general, even those he knows he can trust, to some degree. And I say 'to some degree' because, like I said, this sort of treatment can lead to insecurities and just having a hard time feeling safe around people, no matter how closely related they may be." Leo cringed and I felt bad for saying these things, but I knew that he had to know these things, and he had asked me to be honest. I kept going.

"I understand that's not the intention, but if Donnie's been feeling left out and even at times said he prefers to be alone, that usually means that he's afraid of getting hurt and thus avoids any situation where he _could_ get hurt, either physically or mentally. At least, I've seen that happen before, and his behavior seems to match. I also assume that Donnie's been trying to take space and be noticed more to feel like you actually care about his opinions, his ideas or just him as a person. If he felt like you only cared about his scientific abilities, then he might have felt like you didn't care about him as a brother, only what he could do." Leo bit his lip, clenched his jaw and I saw he was fighting back tears and sobs. I quickly tried to change my tone a little and to sound optimistic.

"But hey, that's only what I think and I what I gathered from how he's been acting the past few weeks. It probably wasn't _exactly_ how he felt, or what might have happened. It's just a theory." Leo shook his head, trying to dry his eyes but having a hard time holding his sobs and tears back.

"No, it's not that, April." He talked with a strained voice and it cracked slightly and I had a feeling he was going to start crying soon- and I mean start crying for real- and try to hold it back. He took a deep, shaky breath. "It's just the fact that I'm realizing more and more just how much I've- I mean, how much _we've_ rejected him for so long. When we were kids, we didn't care about the fact that he didn't want to play with us because he always said he didn't mind being alone, and when we _did_ play, we acted like he wasn't even there. What kind of brother _does_ that?" I didn't know what to say; this was something I didn't quite know how to handle. I had never seen Leo cry before, not even once, and it had always felt like Leo couldn't cry- it was just not possible. So seeing him here, holding himself back from breaking down completely, was really hard to watch. Leo kept talking, but small tears started to fall from his eyes and drip down onto my bed.

"I- I never knew. I never realized just how much I've taken him for granted, or how often I've taken advantage of his selflessness, his helpfulness and his drive to never give up- just to get what I want. And now he's gone, and I'll never be able to look him in the eyes and say that I'm sorry. Or tell him how I need him. How much I miss him. How much I-" He was interrupted by a sob that broke his voice and he had to take another deep breath. "H-how much I l-love him." A few more tears fell from his eyes and one or two sobs managed to slip out as well. I bit my lip, trying to hold back my own tears, and tried to think of something good to say.

I looked down at the photo album and got an idea. I flipped over the page, looked through the pictures on both pages and then flipped over to another page. This time I found something better than the other four pictures and placed my hand on Leo's shoulder. He looked up at me and I placed the album back in his lap and pointed to one of the pictures.

"I think that somewhere, deep under his frustrations and his feelings, he knew that. Even if it sometimes was hard to do so, he knew that you cared for him, and that you loved him." Leo looked at the picture. It was picture of him and Donnie when they looked around seven or eight years old, with Leo hugging Donnie around his neck, looking super-happy. Donnie looked just as happy, if not a little surprised by Leo's hug. And beside the two of them was the Space Heroes arcade game that's always been in the lair. Leo smiled, tears still falling from his eyes.

"That's from the day Donnie repaired that game- just because I was so angry and upset that it was broken when we found it. He had fixed for me so I could be happy, and for that one reason alone. And I loved him for that." I smiled and put my hand on his knee, still looking him in the eyes.

"See? Even if you might have been a little mean to him a few times when you were kids, he still fixed things for you. Not because he wanted to show off, but because he wanted to see you happy. Because _he_ loved _you_ , and he knew that when he expressed his love in the form of making and fixing things for you guys, you would always appreciate and love him back for it, even on a subconscious level. I have a feeling that he knew just how much you love him, even if you didn't always show it very well." Leo gave in. He started to sob and even more tears fell from his eyes. I threw my arms around his neck and he wrapped his arms around me, nearly crushing me out of sadness and desperation for comfort. But I pretended like I didn't feel it and just hugged him as tightly as I could as he cried into my shoulder like a little child.

"Shh... It's okay, Leo. It's okay. Just let it all out, it's okay. I'm here for you. I'm here." He nodded while sobbing pathetically and whimpered 'I'm sorry' into my shoulder over and over, but I had a feeling he wasn't apologising to me. I stroked the back of his head and looked out the window and up at the stars.

" _Oh, Donnie. If only you could see your family right now. So you could see just how much they love you. And how much they miss you._ " I thought to myself and hugged Leo a little tighter. My homework was completely forgotten, but even if I had remembered, I wouldn't have cared. Family came first. It always did.

* * *

(Donnie's P.O.V)

I punched, kicked, bit and screamed at the Triceraton who carried me back to the Arena. I couldn't go back, I _wouldn't_ go back! My planet was in danger and I had to stop the Triceratons from destroying it! I couldn't go back to that place! I had to get out of here, _ASAP_. But the Triceraton obviously had other ideas, since he kept his iron grip on my shell and refused to let go. Didn't mean I would stop trying to fight back.

"Let me go! Put me down, you giant piece of Jurassic leftovers! I won't let you do this, you can't do this, you monster!" The Professor and I were tossed through the doors, but I barely hit the floor before I was up again and running towards the doors, only to have them shut in my face. I kicked, punched, screamed and swore at the now locked doors to such an extent that if Master Splinter could hear me, he would probably beat me up with the _randori_ until I couldn't sit for a week.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, looked up and saw the Professor staring down at me and shaking his head. I knew what he meant. This was useless. I wouldn't get out of here that way. I sighed, turned my shell against the door and leaned the back of my head against it. When I looked up I saw that all of the prisoners and aliens in the room stared at me and the Professor with big, wide eyes, as if I had grown five heads and had gotten three times as big. And for a second I didn't know what to think or say. Then I shook it off, glared at them and folded my arms over my chest.

"What?! What are all staring at? Wouldn't any of you try to escape through the doors before they were locked?" Gruel walked up to me with the same sadistic smile on his face. He clearly enjoyed seeing me so miserable, or so he thought. I would not -I repeat- _not_ give him the pleasure of seeing me down on my knees and unable to keep moving forward. So before he could say anything, I grabbed him by the collar of his so-called 'shirt' and yanked him down so I could look him in the eyes.

"Look, pal, I am in a _super_ bad mood right now, and I swear that I am ready to kick anyone who's willing to argue with me all the way to the nearest star! So back off or I swear I will _personally_ make sure you will never walk again! Got it?" Gruel was caught off guard and I could see that this was something new for him to deal with. He nodded, however, and I loosened my grip on his collar.

"Good. And now," I raised my fist and punched him between the eyes, making him lose consciousness and fall to the floor with a 'thud'. "Good night! And good riddance!" The Professor placed his hand on my shoulder and I was pulled out of my aggressive and testy thoughts.

"Donatello, you should really try to calm yourself. I understand that you are upset, but you won't get anywhere this way." I took a deep breath through my nose and let it out through my mouth. He was right. I had to calm down and think rather than act on emotions and instinct. Come to think of it, I've acted more out of instinct and emotion these past few days than I had for a month back on Earth. Maybe it was because Leo, Raph and Mikey weren't here and so I had to act out their parts as well as my own.

"Yeah, I know. You're right, Professor." Jhanna came running up to us with wide eyes that had nothing but questions in them.

"Donnie, Professor! What happened, and why are you here, Professor? I mean, didn't the Triceratons-?" I interrupted her and placed both hands on her shoulders, shaking her, not very forceful but still enough to catch her attention.

"Jhanna! Zanramon found out that the Kraang are on my planet! They're gonna leave here and destroy my home!" Jhanna's green eyes widened and her jaw dropped all the way down to the floor. I think I even saw Traximus tense a little bit in the background, but I wasn't sure. Jhanna shook her head slowly, moved her mouth without saying anything, and looked down at the floor.

"No... They can't do that. I mean, I know they have a history and a vendetta against the Kraang, but to go and _destroy_ a _whole_ planet? That's way too far, and _way_ out of line, even for Triceratons!" She looked up at me again. "Did they say _how_ they were gonna do it?" I thought for a second, but the Professor answered before I could.

"Prime Leader Zanramon said that after the fight tomorrow, his troops will go and look for the pieces of the Black Hole Generator. I assume they will use it on Earth." Jhanna's eyes widened again, I heard her mutter 'this is not good' to herself and then she looked away, thinking over something. I looked between her and the Professor and then asked the question that had been on my mind ever since I heard the name of the device.

"What is the Black Hole Generator, anyway?" The Professor gazed pityingly down at me and then turned to me so he could look me in the eyes. Which, again, felt a little weird since they were the eyes of a robot and not a person… but I digress.

"It's a device that the Kraang created a long time ago and used against the Triceratons to suck their planet into a black hole. The device was destroyed centuries ago, but is said to still be out there, somewhere, in the galaxy. If Zanramon and his troops find the three pieces, they will be able to do the same with your planet that Kraang did centuries ago." I gulped. Not the answer I had hoped to hear. I turned to Jhanna, who had one hand over her mouth and her other hand on her elbow, looking to be in deep thought.

"But, we're not just gonna sit here and do nothing, right? I mean, we can't let them do this! I can't do this on my own, but I can't let them destroy my planet." Then suddenly a big shadow appeared over us and when I looked up I saw Traximus looked down at us.

"And you're not going to. I have heard enough, and I will not stand by while my people set out to destroy an innocent planet, full with innocent life that's done them no wrong. I don't care if I fall dead tomorrow in the ring, I will help you however I can." I was taken aback by Traximus' words, but before I could answer, Jhanna placed her hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes while smiling reassuringly at me.

"Yeah, he's right, Donnie! We're gonna stop them from destroying your planet and help you get back home in any way we can! Right, Professor?" The robot beside me nodded and for a second, I couldn't grasp it. These three, who had known me for less than two weeks (or less than a day on Traximus' side), were willing to help me- just like that?

"Y-you're.. You're gonna help me? You wanna help me save my planet, just like that?" Jhanna placed her arm around my shoulders and her smile widened.

"Hey, of course we'll help you! We're friends, right?" The Professor placed a hand on my shell and looked down at me with as good a smile as he could offer.

"Yes, we're not going to abandon you after what you have done for us. Besides, I promised that I would help you, didn't I? We're not going to leave you all on your own." I felt tears form in my eyes as a smile spread over my face. I tried to blink away my tears, and I don't think I've ever felt this. At least, not in a very long time.

"You guys... Thank you. Thank you _so_ much! If you do manage to help with everything, I'll owe you my life." Traximus shook his head and placed his hand on my shell, beside the Professor's, patting gently before withdrawing again.

"Life is a precious gift that should not be wasted, remember?" I smiled at him, but was then suddenly pulled out of my thoughts as a groan was heard throughout the room. We all turned to Gruel, who was waking up from my temporary sleeping solution. I leaned in closer to the others and gestured towards the middle of the room, the place where Jhanna had cleaned my wound earlier, and we immediately hurried over there before Gruel could spot us and try to stop us.

We all sat down, as close to each other as we could, and tried to come up with a plan. And now I truly felt like things were going to be alright. Sure, the Triceratons still had us in this prison, but I had three new friends, willing to help me save my world, and I couldn't be more grateful for that. Maybe things were going to be fine after all.

* * *

 **A/N: Okay, it's done! I hope this chapter was good, since I've had a bit of a rough weekend, but hey, I'm fine and I can still write. As I said, on Sunday next week I'll be going away for about a week, but I'll try to update anyway, since I know now that there's is wifi were they're going to live.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	21. Chapter 20, Escaping the Prison

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Quick update! Horray! Okay, I'm not so pleased with the last part of this chapter, It's feels pretty rushed, but I really wanted to get this while 'prison-arc' done so I could get on with other stuff I have in mind. So, sorry if it's a little rushed, but I hope you'll like it anyway!**

 **Hope you'll like this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

* * *

Chapter 20, Escaping the Prison

I was lying, wide awake, on my shell and staring up at the ceiling with empty eyes. We were all in sleeping in the big room instead of our individual cells tonight. I felt butterflies dancing around in my stomach and nothing I tried helped me fall asleep. Tomorrow was our one chance to escape, and if we didn't, the Triceratons would leave this place, go look for that Black Hole Generator-thingy, and by the time we managed to escape -if we even _did_ manage to escape- it might already be too late for Earth. And boy, was I nervous. I knew that my friends and I had tried our best to come up with a strategy, but it didn't help my anxiety in any way that counted.

My mind went back to my family, and a person I hadn't thought about for some time. April. So much had happened, and I thought so much about my brothers and my father that I hadn't found much time to think about her. It felt strange, because before I was a prisoner in an alien prison, I thought about her a lot. April was the first human we'd ever met since our mutation- Master Splinter mutated right along with us, so his formerly human form doesn't quite count- and she was also my first love. My brothers go on and on about how it would never work out, what with her being a _human_ \- mystical, untouchable, normal- and me being a freak of nature that she probably didn't care that much about. At least, now in the way I cared about her. Not to mention the endless teasing and humiliation that I received as a consequence of confiding in my brothers. But I don't care. What do they know? They've never been in love before –save, maybe, Leo- and they didn't understand how it felt. If me being stuck as her little lapdog, helping her with everything would make her happy, then I'd gladly do it.

While I admit that there have been times when I feel like she's taking advantage of me, she's still been a really good friend. And I had hoped that, eventually, we would become something more than friends. That is, until Casey came along and ruined things. Okay, maybe I'm being a bit harsh; I mean, it's not exactly Casey's fault for falling for a girl when I had done the same thing. But why did he have to fall for the exact same girl that I had? For him, getting another girl was easy; he could go to parties- heck, he could go out in _public_ \- and meet his soul mate, he could go on social media and dating websites. I can't do that, nor will I ever be able to, and any girls I meet will be victims of crimes that I've stopped and will never want to see my hideous face again after they're saved. My cynical awareness of this kinda ruined things between April and I. She doesn't understand. She could sit and talk with _him_ for hours about a lot of things that I would never understand, like how school was, or about going to see a movie at the Argosy, or just stuff- _human_ stuff- in general. Stuff she never talked with me about, sometimes mentioning this right in front of me. I know she has a life outside of the smelly lair in the sewers, and that she wants to be as normal as possible, and that would result in her trying to make some human friends… But still, it kinda hurt when she would reject me or not talk to me about what bothered her and then- _seconds_ later, when I'm _right there_ \- talk to Casey about it.

Man, Leo was right. Relationships _are_ complicated. Still, it was worth it. Every beating my heart had taken the past year was worth it, if it meant April would be happy.

I looked to my right and saw Jhanna lying there, sound asleep with her long blue ponytails almost wrapped around her head. Both she and I were covered in dirt and a little dry blood, but she looked a little worse than I did. Her clothes were so tattered and torn that it looked like they were ready to fall off. Her hair was a tousled mess and there was straw stuck in there, too. But, then again, I didn't look that much better, so I couldn't really fault her for it.

I looked down at myself and, well, it wasn't pretty. My plastron was covered in varying scratches, some slightly bigger wounds littered my arms and legs, and I also appeared to have bathed in a lot of dirt. And then there was the raw gash on my arm that still stung painfully. I really hate to complain so much, but I also felt a slightly feverish. Hopefully I wasn't about to get sick, as that would really hold me back for quite some time. Although, considering the filth we were being kept in, I figured I should probably plan for myself getting sick; that way our strategy wouldn't be ruined and I could think ahead of time for ways to work around the effects of , back to the subject: The Professor, Traximus, Jhanna and I had come up with a pretty good plan. Or, at least, as good a plan as we could think up. The Professor would use the photon canons that were built into his arms to create a way out while Jhanna, Traximus and I created a distraction. Sure, it _sounded_ easy, but we only had one shot at this. If we screwed this up, or if something messed itself up for us, we'd never get out of here. Hopefully the other aliens would help us, but that chance was pretty was pretty slim, and so I wasn't holding my breath.

"What're you thinking about, Donatello?" I looked up and to my left and saw the Professor gazing at me from where he was lying in the straw. Well, the Professor didn't exactly need sleep, but he was still lying here in the dirty, smelly straw with the rest of us. I propped myself up on my elbow and looked over at the robot.

"Oh, nothing Professor. It's just... Well, we only get one shot at this. If we don't succeed, well, then I don't see how I'm ever going to be able to save Earth." I heard some rustling in the straw to my right and when I turned to look, I saw Jhanna sitting up, straw sticking out of her hair, with newly woken eyes, but still with a small smile and a raised eyebrow.

"You mean _we're_ gonna save Earth, right? We're gonna help you with this, Donnie. You're not in this mess all alone. Remember that." I couldn't help but smile. This was a new feeling. For so many years I've had to do a lot of things on my own, since nobody at home knew much about science- which meant they had very little interest, which led to me doing a lot of stuff on my own. And now, three aliens who knew very little about me wanted to help me save my planet because we were friends. They had also said that they were willing to risk their necks to stop the Triceratons because they had gone too far, but the sentiment was still there. It made me feel pretty warm throughout my whole body, and not because of the small fever I was sporting.

"Right. _we're_ going to save Earth." Jhanna grinned genuinely and tossed some straw at me.

"Good, now go to sleep! You'll need all the energy you can for tomorrow. Especially seeing as how we're not gonna get any food tomorrow." I nodded. She was right. I had to get some rest, and I realized just then how tired I actually was. I really needed some sleep, and with any luck, I might be able to sleep off my fever, too. I said a quick 'good night' to the both of them before I lay back down in the straw and closed my eyes, falling asleep almost instantly.

The really bad thing about sleep, though, is that it seems that you're only asleep for a few minutes before you have to wake up again. And what's worse is when you have an alarm clock named Gruel who's mighty ticked off at you for punching him in the face yesterday and intends to make you suffer for it, starting with a horrible wake up call for everyone in the room.

"WAKE UP, LAZYBONES! THE FIGHT STARTS IN FIVE MINUTES!" I woke with a start and flew up from the straw, wide-eyed and gasping as the loud voice reached my ears, yanking me out of my sleep with a small yelp of surprise and fear. The other aliens around me woke with a similar reaction, except for Traximus, who seemed used to his kind of abuse, and we hurried to get up. Gruel glared at me the entire time as everybody got ready and took weapons from the weapons rack. I hurried to grab the closest thing to a bo staff that I could find: a long staff made out some kind of metal with a long blade on end- more like a guandao than a naginata. I could work with that; it wasn't that different. Traximus had grabbed his axe from yesterday's fight and Jhanna wielded a long sword with a wickedly sharp edge. The Professor didn't have a weapon, but he probably couldn't use one, anyway; besides, he had told me he had a few weapons built into his robot-body, so I guess he was fine.

Gruel gathered us all up inside of the ring. I quickly noticed that while some of us had weapons, some did not. I guess that was a bit unfair, but I had other things to think of. Soon… soon, we had to put our plan into motion, or we would be stuck here forever. Possibly longer. Gruel still had his whip in hand and I was tempted to use it to strangle him, if just to get him to stop grinning that stupid grin that I never wanted to see again for the rest of my life. But I resisted. He wasn't worth the effort. Besides, I knew I wouldn't be able to do it since I had already made it clear I'd never kill anyone.

"Alright, meatheads! This'll be fun for which lucky ones of you that will come back down here alive; and as for the poor unfortunate souls who'll fall today in the ring, it'll be absolute hell. It's a fight against everyone in that ring, so I want to see some bloody slaughter." He glared at me. "Especially for some of you." I glared back and folded my arms over my chest, showing that I was still standing and as long as I was, I would fight back against any threat that they threw at me. I also noticed in the very back of my racing mind that Mona Lisa was looking at me strangely. Oh, well; what did it matter? Wouldn't be the first time since I got here that she's looked at me like that.

"Well, time to go up and fight. Have fun killing each other! I hope as many of you as possible will be out of my misery." He chuckled to himself, and suddenly the ring we stood on started to move upwards. I gathered Jhanna, Traximus and Professor close to me and whispered, so that no one else would be able to hear us.

"Okay, this is it, guys. Remember, these guys have massive strength and enough intelligence to be a threat. We have to fight smart, be quick, and always be on the move. Everybody remember the plan?" They all nodded and Traximus leaned in closer to me.

"Donatello, no matter what happens in that ring today, I want you to know that I am grateful that I met you. I've never felt so hopeful in all of my years inside these walls. So, thank you." I smiled and felt a small blush cover my cheeks. Then, suddenly, I realized something. Who died and made _me_ the leader here? I said yesterday that I had tried to act as all three of my brothers, as well as myself, but I hadn't realized that I had taken the roll of leader as well. Could I handle that? I'd never led anyone in my life, I didn't know how to lead; Leo was my leader. Leo and Master Splinter. I was always content to be a follower. I sighed. A turtle's gotta do what a turtle's gotta do, I guess.

I adjusted the breathing apparatus on my belt and checked the tube that fed into the side of my mouth, getting myself ready for the fight. Come what may, today I would show the world that Donatello Hamato is _not_ a weakling, but a warrior and a fighter, through and through. I had the martial arts teachings of a Grandmaster of Ninjutsu in my blood, and the spirits of three other turtles in my own. I had Leonardo's wisdom and bravery, Raphael's strength and passion, and Michelangelo's optimism and energy, as well as my own knowledge, my spirit and my drive to never, ever give up. I could handle anything these Triceratons threw at me and come out on top.

We came up through the ground and into a large arena, filled with all kinds of different aliens mixed with a lot Triceratons, cheering and yelling with excitement, stomping their feet and clapping their hands. Traximus, Jhanna and I placed ourselves in a circle around the Professor to protect him from any harm. I looked over at Traximus.

"Okay, Traximus, you have the stronger set of lungs, so when you're ready, you say that we refuse to die for the amusement of these cowards. Whenever you're ready, we start." He nodded and gripped the battle-axe tighter in his hands. The Prime Leader appeared on a big screen, smiling with pride; he was clearly celebrating too early.

"Off-worlders and fellow Triceratons, hear me! Welcome to this day's fight and this day's chosen few who will fight for the ultimate price! Their lives!" The cheering broke out again and I had put one finger over my ear, just to make sure my eardrums wouldn't implode. Geez, and people say _teenagers_ are too loud with their music and games. Most of these aliens were clearly adults, at the very least. The Prime Leader continued.

"Today is a day of celebration for us Triceratons! For I have discovered, with my intelligent mind and superior leadership, where our lifelong enemies, the Kraang, are hiding!" There was a mix of cheering and booing; booing at the Kraang and cheering for their 'oh-so-great' leader. And I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Intelligent mind and superior leadership? Yeah, right; this guy couldn't lead a blind person, and if it wasn't for me he wouldn't know where they were hiding. But then again, that wouldn't exactly be a bad thing.

"Now, I can't hog all the praise to myself. I had help, and as the humble and grateful leader that I am," I rolled my eyes at his words. How could anyone take this guy seriously as a leader? He was clearly making things up. "I will share your gratitude with him." Suddenly a spotlight attacked my eyes and I almost dropped the staff in my hand from shock and slight pain.

"This boy told me about his planet and how the Kraang have used it to hide from us. Now that we know where they are hiding, we can gather up the pieces of the Black Hole Generator and destroy that Kraang-infested planet! And it's thanks to this boy that it's possible!" A new round of cheering broke out and I felt the guilt wash over me again. These guys really seemed to like rubbing salt in my wounds. Jhanna looked up at me with shocked, slightly angry eyes.

"You actually _told_ them that the Kraang were on your planet?!" I glared back at her and for a second I forgot about the fact that a fight was about to start.

"It was an accident! A slip of the tongue!" She just rolled her eyes at me and gripped her sword a little tighter. Prime Leader Zanramon smirked down at us, though I had a feeling that he was more or less smirking at _me_.

"So, without any further ado, I will let these aliens fight for their lives! In fact, let's start with something interesting: every alien in the ring against this turtle creature! May the worst alien win!" Even more cheering and clapping rang out across the Arena. I looked over at the other aliens nervously, and I was actually kinda scared that they were going to attack me. But they all looked at me confusedly, except for Mona Lisa, who looked conflicted and almost ready to drop her arm-long knife. Suddenly Traximus raised his axe over his head and it looked like he was ready to chop my head off; I couldn't help but scream, close my eyes in fear and raise my staff defensively, mostly out of instinct.

But nothing happened. And when I opened my eyes I saw that the axe had been thrown into the ground, stuck in the dirt. I looked up at Traximus, who smiled and winked at me, before he turned towards the screen where Zanramon's face was still shown.

"We will _not_ fight! We will no longer fight and die for the amusement of the Prime Leader and his cowardly people!" A loud gasp was heard throughout the room and a low murmur started to spread. The Prime Leader gasped in anger and shock, searching for whoever had spoken.

"W-what? Who said that?!" Traximus pulled the axe out of the ground and turned to the other aliens. He raised it over his head in an inspirational way and looked kinda like a big hero, or at least some kind of victor.

"Come on, everyone! Let's stand up and fight against these tyrants! Everyone who's sick and tired of being treated like a doormat: let's stand up and fight against the true monsters!" But none of the other aliens made any moves to do anything; they just stood there and stared at us and each other. Sighing in exasperation, I walked up to the group, gripped my staff and raised it over my head, trying to look just as inspiring as Traximus had.

"Come on, guys! We have our chance to fight back! Don't just stand there and let yourselves get pushed around by these guys! You have a choice- choose to fight back!" But that didn't seem to work. No one did anything, and I heard Zanramon laughing in the background.

"Oh, that is _rich_! You actually thought that some well-chosen words would get that garbage to fight against us? These creatures lost hope and their drive to live years ago! Nothing you can say or do will make them fight against us, so just give it up." I lowered my staff again and was entirely paralyzed. How would we manage to get out of here now? I don't think our plan would work now. I heard Zanramon order some Triceratons to go in and grab us, but at the same time, I didn't hear it. I didn't care. But then, suddenly, a flash of green and brown flew towards one of the Triceratons and attacked. Mona Lisa.

"No! I will _not_ let you hurt them!" Seeing the girl fight back against these big aliens somehow made the others react and grab at their weapons a little. Then, Jhanna and Traximus ran towards the Triceratons and attacked. I turned to the other aliens and smirked cockily at them.

"These guys want to _live_ \- not just survive. What'll _you_ do?" I turned to the Professor and placed my hand on his shoulders. "Okay, I'll keep the Triceratons away from you. Get your canons ready!" He nodded, but before I could run towards the others and join the fight, a loud explosion was heard and one of the walls was destroyed. Screams filled the Arena and all the spectators started to flee the building. Through the hole in the wall came a battalion of Federation soldiers- and in the lead was Moriah, gun in hand and eyes scanning the area calculatingly.

I grabbed the Professor and ran up to Jhanna and Traximus, and hiding the Professor behind Trax before holding my staff up, ready to attack if I need be. Triceratons ran in through the doors with weapons in their hands, not one of them paying us any attention. They had forgotten about us entirely in favor of the attack.

"Come on, here's our chance! We can escape through the hole in the wall while they're busy! Come on!" I ran towards the hole in the wall the others following. Traximus had the Professor by the arm, almost dragging him when the robot failed to gain proper footing. All of the other prisoners seemed to be likeminded, making a collective beeline for the breach and escaping through it.

"The prisoners! They're escaping! Stop them- stop them _now_!" Zanramon yelled after us- but by that time we had already escaped through the hole and were running for our lives. Mona Lisa sprinted to catch up with me and frowned at me in concern as she ran by my side. Jhanna was on my other side, and Traximus and the bumbling Professor were hot on our heels.

" _Now_ what do we do?" I shook my head in response, taking my gaze away from her to look for somewhere we could possibly hide. That was when I saw a bunch of ships about twenty feet ahead. I guess it was their 'parking lot', though it wasn't very smart, in my opinion. I mean, who parks their ships just outside of a prison, inviting anyone to steal them? I pointed at it and placed my temporary weapon in the holster on my shell.

"There! Let's go and get on of those ships!" We all sucked in a huge breath before increasing our speed as much as we possibly could, probably looking like the Devil himself was after us. My abused, malnourished muscles screamed in protest and a feverish sweat was coating every inch of my skin. My lungs were burning and the pain in my desperately pumping arm was enough to make my vision go dark along the very edges. But we were _almost there_. That was all that mattered, all that kept us going and pushing past our bodily limits.

We were a few mere feet away from our salvation when a big white ship appeared in front of us. The surprise of it didn't quite register in my adrenaline-addled brain, but thankfully Jhanna, who appeared to be thinking more clearly than me, shot an arm out in front of me, beckoning me to stop beside her. The rest of the group halted when we did, and then we were just standing there, panting and on the verge of collapse, not knowing what to say or do. Then a white ramp with orange lighting appeared from its side as a door opened. I could see the silhouette of a young girl, waving at us to hurry up and get in.

"Hurry! We have to get out of here- now!" Jhanna squinted at her suspiciously before her eyes widened in shock; if I hadn't placed a questioning hand on her forearm, she surely would have dropped her sword.

"…Starlee?!" I looked back at the ships that I assumed were the Triceratons'. They would most likely go to these after they had defeated the Federation, whenever that would happen. I looked at some barrels that were relatively close to us, then felt my belt and realized with a smile that I still had a few shuriken left. I ran up to the barrels, tipped one of them over and started to roll it towards the ships.

"You guys get inside! I'll come in two seconds!" I heard the Professor and Jhanna call my name, but I had gotten an idea and wasn't about to waste this golden opportunity. The process lasted about twenty seconds, but was agonizingly slow to me; I would have done it in four, had I not been exhausted and feverish, with the addition of several pulled muscles, oxygen-starved lungs and a re-opened gash on my arm bleeding freely and making my head spin a little. Once I got close enough, I kicked the barrel towards the first and closest ship and threw a shuriken at it before running back to 'Starlee' and the rest of my friends. Just as I had hoped, a big explosion was heard seconds later, and when I looked over my shoulder, I saw that ship after ship was exploding due to the domino effect. I sighed in relief and jogged up the ramp and through the doors of that Starlee-person's ship just before the doors closed and the ship took off and flew away from the Triceraton Prison, where chaos still ensued.

I was now in a big room, which I guess was the control room or something, and saw the others there. At the controls was a young girl who couldn't have been more than twelve or thirteen years old, who was currently steering the ship away from the prison and the Triceraton ships.

I could finally sigh in relief. It had worked. We were free.

I quickly examined the others, who were either sitting or standing, and tried to spot any injuries.

"Is everybody okay?" Jhanna walked up to me with a small smirk on her face, looking a little impressed. She had a few abrasions and a small gash on her cheek, but other than that, she looked fine.

"Yeah, we're okay. Some bruises and maybe some bigger wounds, but we're fine." I smiled and nodded at her and then turned to the girl at the controls, who had turned away from the control panels and towards us instead.

"Thank you for saving us… but who are you?" She stood, walked up to me and smiled. She was, in a way, pretty similar to Jhanna and Moriah, but also pretty different at the same time. She too had blue skin and pointy ears, but she had purple hair- instead of blue or red- tied into a ponytail, and matching purple eyes. She was dressed in the same kinds of clothes that Moriah and Jhanna had worn ever since I first saw them. She also had freckled cheeks and nose, goggles on top of her head (which I guess worked as her glasses) and a headset, making her look like a rather technical and smart girl.

"My name is Starlee, and I am Jhanna's sister. I am here to bring Jhanna back to D'hoonib."

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 **A/N: Okay, I honestly couldn't think of a better way to end this chapter, so I decided to end it on some sort of cliffhanger. Although I'm not sure if it's very suspenseful. I hope it's good enough for you! Now, here we come to the fun part, cause now I'll get use my imagination to create new planets and characters, while also coming up with new story arcs for the characters.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**


	22. Chapter 21, A chance to catch my breath

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Wow, I am on a roll this week! I guess this'll make up for next week, in case if I can't update when I'm on vacation over Christmas. I guess it's because I have so little things to do now, since the semester is over now. I finished my final test this week and the few smaller things too. Hopefully I'll be able to update as often as possible during Christmas Break.**

 **On a quick note, I wanna give a great big thank you to those of you who have sent me their condolences because of the people I've lost. I cannot thank you enough, it means so much to me and it really gives me more strength and a drive to keep writing. Thank you all so much!**

 **Hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 21, A chance to catch my breath

After Starlee had spoken, everyone in the room looked up from their wounds and at Starlee and Jhanna, who were staring at each other. I looked at Jhanna nervously; would she actually do it? Nah, she couldn't. She'd said once that she wanted to leave D'hoonib, so she probably wouldn't let her little sister drag her back.

"What?! No way, Starlee! I just managed to finally get away from Zanramon and our father! I've spent _sixteen_ _years_ of my life listening to his orders and his yelling, and I am _not_ going back!" Starlee jumped a little at her older sister's loud voice, but she seemed to be used to that, 'cause she certainly didn't loose her footing.

"Jhanna… I know that you were right, and that he doesn't care about us as much as he should- but he's our father! And you _know_ he'll be furious if we don't come home! He'll send Moriah after us! Why try to avoid the unavoidable?" Jhanna rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest.

"Oh yeah? Well, even if he does send her after us- which I really doubt- let him do it! I don't care about what he has to say or what he'll do in order to us get back! I have other things to worry about; bigger things!" I frowned and gazed over at Traximus and Mona Lisa, and I could see in their eyes that they thought this was just as awkward as I did. The Professor didn't show much emotion, but I had a feeling he felt a little bit awkward as well. I moved away from Starlee and Jhanna and walked up to the others instead. The girls didn't seem to notice, though. Starlee placed her hands on her hips and glared up at her sister.

"Oh, really? What could _possibly_ be so important that you'd leave your family- your _home_ \- for a couple of strangers?" Jhanna growled and was about to answer, but I felt the need to intervene. If I didn't, chances were that a big fight was imminent- and that wasn't what we needed right now. Especially considering that we were still way too close to the Triceraton ships.

"Uh, girls? I hate to interrupt, but we're still really close to the Triceratons. Could we maybe have this discussion once we're a few miles away from those dino-freaks? I _really_ don't want to go back to that place; I have to save my planet! Anyone here remember that they're gonna go after the Black Hole Generator the first chance they get?" I hated to make this situation about me, but I was desperate, and I had just managed to get us a bit of a head start by blowing up those ships, and I didn't want to waste it on petty arguments. Jhanna turned to me and her expression softened before she turned back to Starlee again. The smaller girl now looked at me as if she had forgotten about the rest of us.

"Wha... What do you mean, save your planet? And the Black Hole Generator? What is going on here?" Jhanna placed her hand on her sister's shoulder and gestured to the others and me.

"That's our mission. The Triceratons have figured out that the Kraang are hiding on Donatello's planet, and they'll destroy it with the Black Hole Generator. We have to stop them before they can do that. That's why I can't go home- why I don't _want_ to go home! I wanna help stop the Triceratons!" Starlee raised an eyebrow and looked slightly confused.

"Since when do _you_ care about the welfare of others? Didn't you always say that it's every alien for themselves out there?" Jhanna shrugged and flicked her bangs out of her face.

"Since now. I am not going to D'hoonib when the Triceratons are going to destroy a planet of innocent people! I'm sorry, Starlee, but I'm staying here, and we're going to stop those dino-freaks! We're going to help Donnie get back home again." Starlee turned to me and her purple eyes showed nothing but compassion; but before she could say anything, Mona Lisa interrupted the conversation.

"Hey, whoa, hold on for a second! I never agreed to that! I only wanted to escape prison, not get involved in another fight! Especially not with the Triceratons! I've seen enough of those guys to last me a lifetime! All I want is to go home." We all turned to her, and I had to admit, I had kinda forgotten about her. She had been so quiet and done so little that she had kinda faded into the background. Jhanna turned to her and glared at the little Salamandarian.

"What? But you were right there, helping us fight the Triceratons so we could get out of that place! Are you just going to ditch us now?!" Mona Lisa glared back and folded her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, I fought back- so I could get out of prison! I never agreed to help a totally unknown planet of people I don't know!" Traximus and the Professor turned to her, looking pretty ticked off.

"So you don't care about the fact that the people of Earth are in serious danger- are going to die if we don't do something? Doesn't that faze you at all?" Traximus was pretty intimidating now that he was angry, but Mona Lisa stood her ground and rolled her eyes.

"I don't _know_ the people of Earth! Why should I care about people that I've never met, will probably never meet, and that will never mean anything to me? It doesn't affect me at all if the people of Earth die, so I don't see why I should help you." The Professor raised his finger and was about to say something, but I couldn't take listening to any more of this.

"Guys, stop!" Everyone stared at me. "She's right. She doesn't have any reason to help me save my people. She has her own life and her own home, which I bet she wants to get back to, on her own planet. I'm not going to force anyone to help me if they don't want to. Anyone who wishes to do what they want, go home or do something other than this is free to go." I looked down at the clean white floor and could see my reflection in the polished metal. And I could see I had tears running down my cheeks. Then I saw Starlee come up to me and place her hand on my shell.

"Donatello, I admit that this isn't what I had planned to do when I arrived here. But, I realize that you want to save your home. And I sympathize with you. And since you've managed to get my sister, a Triceraton outcast and Professor Honeycutt on your side, I guess I can't really argue against the idea of saving Earth. So, I'm willing to help in any way I can." I tilted my head to gaze up at her with a grateful smile. She smiled back and then turned back to Mona Lisa.

"And I'm sure we can stop by your planet and drop you off if you really want to go home." Mona Lisa nodded slowly and grinned. She then looked at me and looked a bit more remorseful.

"I'm really sorry, but if you had been locked up for _so_ long, and then finally managed to escape, I don't think you'd be so quick to join a fight against those that locked you up in prison. Especially when it concerns people you don't know at all." I shrugged and tried to act like it wasn't a big deal, even though it hurt that she didn't want to help us.

"It's okay, I understand. If the Triceratons weren't on their way to destroy my world, I'd probably want to go home as quickly as possible, too." Mona smiled, glad that I understood, and then looked back at Starlee, who had brought out a big white case that I suppose was her first aid kit. A pretty big first aid kit. She pushed it towards us and then opened it.

"Here, so you can patch yourselves up where you need to. If you walk through the door on the left, you'll find the showers if you wanna clean yourselves up, and," she looked at Jhanna's tattered clothes, "if you wanna change into something else, there are plenty of space-suits through that door on the right, in the shower room. I'm going to see if the computers can find the pieces of that Black Hole Generator. It'll be easier to find them if we know where we're going, right?" I quickly ran towards the shower rooms, followed by Jhanna. We both really need to shower, and I couldn't wait to get the dirt and blood off of my body.

Hot water had never felt so good before. I stood there, in a clean shower with a bar of soap in my hand, steaming hot water washing over my whole body. It felt amazing. I could stay in there for hours. And seeing how there were three other showers in this place, I didn't think anyone would mind if I did. It also felt great to see all the dirt, blood and sweat disappear down the drain. Exactly where it went, I had no idea, but for the moment I didn't care. It felt so nice to not think for a change and just enjoy the moment. But I did make sure to clean my injured arm and get rid of all the blood and dirt that might have infected it. The last thing I wanted was to get an infection (if I didn't already have one- the fever was still unexplained) that might lead to severe injury in a fight. The cut was irritated and red, but the clean water seemed to be doing it some good.

"Hey, are you gonna stay in there forever? Come on, we have things to do! The others will probably want some warm water, too, you know!" Jhanna called from outside the drapery. I put the soap away and stuck my head out.

"I thought that the water's always warm- the fuel, when it's converted to heat, goes to heat up the water and the entire ship, right? If that's the case, then why should I worry about running out of warm water?" Jhanna stood there in a bathrobe and was drying her hair with a towel. This was the first time I had seen her with her hair down, and I had to admit, she looked a little cuter.

"Well, yes, that's true, but if you waste the warm water then more heat will need to be used to heat up more water, as well as the ship, thus the fuel will run out much quicker, and we'll have to get more. Now, granted, there is a lot of fuel in this thing, but we don't exactly have a lot of money to get more with, so let's try not to waste anything we might need in the future." I rolled my eyes, stuck my head back into the shower and turned off the water before I exited the stall. Jhanna handed me a towel before she headed into the room where Starlee had said something about space suits. I could understand her- her clothes, on top of being so tattered and dirty that she could probably never wear them again, also belonged to the Federation. And she had been very clear about not wanting to go back to the Federation ever again.

I dried myself with the towel and was happy to see that the white cloth- while maybe a _little_ dirty- was pretty clean after I had rubbed it all over my body. Good, that meant I had cleaned myself thoroughly. I looked around for my own gear, put my mask on and then noticed just how dirty the rest of the gear was- a little torn at the seams, as well. I could probably fix the small parts that were tattered or ripped, but they were still too dirty to wear. I would have to clean them later, but what was I supposed to wear until then? I couldn't walk around with nothing on me. Heck no, that would be way too awkward. Before we met April, my brothers and I had been totally comfortable with walking 'nude' around the lair. It wasn't until she had a good awkward laugh about it that we became self-conscious about it; since then it's been hard to leave my room without at least my mask on. But what could I do until my gear was wearable?

Just then, Jhanna walked through the door again. Her hair had now dried and been combed through, but other than that, she looked pretty different. Her black and brown clothing had been replaced with a dark blue skintight jumpsuit with matching gloves, a black belt around her waist with a holster on the side of her waist, black leather boots and a new sword in her hand- a sword with a retractable blade. In the holsters in her belt was a small gun. On her right arm was a small gauntlet with a few buttons on it, looking like some sort of communication device. She stretched a little bit, then jumped around and did a few fighting moves and finished off with a somersault before she seemed satisfied.

"Wow, these things are really easy to move around in! And pretty comfortable, too! You should try one too, Donnie!" She smiled at me and started to tie her hair into her two ponytails. I had to place my hand over my mouth to suppress a laugh. She couldn't be serious.

"Do you honestly think a suit like _that_ is going to fit me? I'm a _mutant_ _turtle_. With a _shell_. I'll never get into that without ripping it." She rolled her eyes, grabbing me by the arm and leading me into the room she had just vacated. What I saw made my jaw drop to the floor. The room was filled with space suits, helmets, gadgets of all kinds, weapons that clearly had an advanced technological origin and so much more. It was like a full-on geek explosion!

Jhanna grabbed one of the bigger suits, lifted one of the arms that had a similar kind of gauntlet to her own, and showed a small red button on it.

"Put this on and then press this button. Then you'll see what happens." I looked at her, took the suit and started to put it on. It was probably five sizes too big, but I was sure Jhanna knew what she was doing. After quite a bit of trouble and pulling on the long arms and legs, I had finally managed to put it on -as much as I could, anyway- and then pressed the button. Suddenly the suit seemed to shrink and form itself after my body shape. Once it was done I moved to one of the walls that was so polished that I could see my reflection in the metal, looking at myself. It was a similar suit to Jhanna's, only mine was dark purple and looked more like a one-piece, since the 'gloves' and the 'boots' were already stuck on the suit instead of put on individually like Jhanna had done with hers. But, other than that, it was almost exactly like Jhanna's. I turned to her. She had one hand on her hip and was resting her weight on said hip

"These suits have a little feature that can adjust them to fit pretty much any alien anatomy. Makes it so much easier to buy a suit when you don't have to care about the different sizes, right?" I nodded, but I couldn't look away from myself. I felt like one of those characters from Leo's stupid Space Heroes show. Only a lot cooler. I grabbed a belt, a staff made of some kind of metal, and little gun just like Jhanna had. I examined the staff and started to twirl it to get used to the new weapon and how it felt.

"Wow, I feel like a real space ranger! Oh, if only the guys could see me right now! I mean, so far I've managed to survive being transported through space, survived D'hoonib _and_ the Triceraton Prison, beat the oldest daughter of the leader of D'hoonib _and_ a Triceraton singlehandedly, made friends with aliens, am on my way to save my planet, and now this! Hah, who's a weak dork _now_ , am I right?" I smirked at Jhanna and tried to look cool, then felt one end of the staff hit the side of my head. I involuntarily let out an 'oomph!' and stumbled a little. Since the staff was made out of metal and not wood, like my other staff, it hurt much more.

"Ugh- ow." I rubbed my temple and groaned in frustration and embarrassment. The staff was a bit heavier than my old one, so I guess I had to train with it a bit so I could get used to it. Jhanna snickered at me and hid her mouth behind her gloved hand. I guess she had _tried_ to suppress it… and failed. I glared at her and placed the staff in the holster in my back. After she had calmed down a little, Jhanna walked up to me and looked me in the eyes, folding her arms over her chest in a familiar gesture.

"Who said anything about you being weak? Or a dork, for that matter? …Whatever _that_ is." I looked at her, feeling rather surprised. I had never really thought of revealing much about my family or how they probably saw me to Jhanna. Not even April had managed to get me to say much about how I felt about it. But I guess I had to say something, seeing how I kinda got myself into this situation by mentioning it. I rubbed the back of my neck and looked away from her.

"Well, I dunno… Back on Earth, I guess, between me and my family, I've always been seen as the weaker fighter. I'm not as strong, gifted or dedicated in my Ninjutsu studies as my brothers are, and I'm no ninja master like my father. I guess I've always been seen as the weakest. At least physically." Jhanna bit her lower lip and looked away from me for a second, smiling when our eye contact resumed.

"Well, if that's the case, then I'd hate to see how strong your brothers are, seeing how you've managed to take care of yourself pretty well these past few days- especially since you managed to hold your ground against Traximus the other day. You clearly have talent, determination and a great deal of strength. If that's qualified as weak where you come from, then I don't think I wanna know how your brothers would've handled the situation." I looked up at her in surprise. Was that a compliment? I beamed at her and felt myself blushing a little.

"Thanks, Jhanna. Oh, and thanks for mentioning Traximus. You just reminded me that there's something I need to talk to him about." I left the room and ran out into the control room. Traximus was sitting down on a small staircase and wrapping some bandages around his knee when I ran up to him and sat down beside him.

"Hey, Traximus, can I ask you something?" He looked up at me and smiled. I wasn't sure how old this guy was, but something about the look in his eyes made me see a wise old man and not just a strong and experienced warrior. Similar to Splinter, in a way.

"Didn't you just ask me a question?" And he still had the kind of humor that Splinter did, if you can call it humor and not just a way of playing with my brothers and me. I rolled my eyes at him and started to help him with his bandages.

"Well, I was just wondering something. Now, I've heard from some people that I can handle myself in a fight, and I know that I _have_ handled myself pretty well since I was transported from my own planet. But I also know that I've had a bit of luck so far and I know that the only reason I could defeat you yesterday was because of your injury. And I don't want to depend on my luck to save me all the time; you know what I'm saying? So, well I, I..." He smiled and nodded at me, encouraging me to keep going. I took a deep breath, looked down at the floor and just said it.

"I was hoping you could train me." I said it almost too quickly, and I wouldn't blame him if he didn't hear what I said. But he smiled, grabbed my chin and lifted my face up so he could look me in the eyes.

"You're being very humble and wise to ask me this. Most who have handled the things you have thought of themselves as better than they may be, and that would lead them to their doom. But, I must ask: do you realize that if I were to train you, I would push you very hard to improve you and your skills? There are many dangers out there, and it's hard to be ready for every one of them. Are you sure you would be up for it?" I thought it over. I could run away and say that I didn't want to, since I knew it would be a lot harder than training with Master Splinter. But, if I did, then I would be a coward, too scared to sweat, cry and even bleed in order to improve myself. And I didn't want to be seen as a coward. So I nodded just as I finished tying the bandage.

"Yes. Yes, I'm sure I would be up for it. I know it'll be really tough, but I want to become a great fighter and want to be able to take care of myself. So, yes." He nodded and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Very well. We start first thing in the morning! Now, may I have a look at your arm?" Suddenly I remembered the gash on my arm that was probably still irritated and couldn't possibly have healed yet. Even though I had cleaned it as well as I could, it could still be infected- probably was, if the light fever was anything to go by. One thing was for sure: it still hurt like shell. So I opened up my suit, pulled my arm out of the sleeve and showed it to Traximus; and I was, well, not exactly happy to see what I did. It was still relatively clean from my shower, but it still looked pretty bad. It had started to bleed again; some pus had also started to form around the edges and around the gash, my skin looked slightly purple. All in all, not a pretty sight. I had been cleaning it as well as I could while showering, but I guess I had really looked it over, and I must have missed how terrible it really looked. Traximus examined it, pulled out a bottle of some kind, dropped some liquid onto a cotton pad and started clean it. It burned like hellfire, and I bit my tongue just to make sure I didn't scream in pain. After he was done cleaning the wound, Traximus took some more bandages out of the case and started to wrap it around my arm.

"It seems to have healed well enough that you won't need stitches anymore. That is good, but it still looks bad. I'm guessing the bandages in that prison weren't very clean. I'll wrap it up just in case it starts to bleed again- which it probably will. Hopefully it won't restrain your movement with that arm, now that you wear that suit." Once he was done and I put the suit on properly again, I pointed towards the shower room.

"Why don't you go and take a shower? Maybe change your clothes, at the very least. The ones you have right now look ready to fall apart." He smiled, ruffled the tails of my mask and then left for the showers, limping a little. But before he walked into the room, he turned to look over his shoulder and smiled at me.

"Thank you, Donatello, for showing up in that prison. I owe you my life since you have given me a reason to live it again." I grinned, blushed a little and murmured 'you're welcome' before he entered the shower room and closed the door behind him. After a few minutes Jhanna walked in and carried her old clothes as far away from herself -especially her face- as she could.

"I'm throwing these things out, Starlee! Is there any place I can do that?" Starlee looked up from her computers, where she and the Professor were trying to locate the pieces of the Black Hole Generator, and peered over her shoulder at her sister. She saw the heap of ruined rags in Jhanna's arms and pointed to the door on the right.

"There's an incinerator that way. You just walk straight ahead for a few minutes, then go through the door on the left. But be careful- the fire is really strong." She nodded and disappeared through the indicated doorway. I searched the room for Mona Lisa, but she was nowhere to be found. Eh, she was probably in the shower or something. She seemed to be pretty reserved, so maybe she wanted to be alone.

Suddenly I heard my stomach rumble and I realized I hadn't eaten anything since last night. I hoped this place had food that was actually _edible_. I approached Starlee and carefully tapped her on the shoulder.

"Um, excuse me? I don't mean to interrupt you again, but I was wondering if you had anything eat around here? I'm starting to get a little hungry." Starlee looked up again, pushed her goggles up and pointed to the door on the right again.

"In there. Just use the food replicator and get anything you want." Food replicator? What was _that_? I looked down at her with a raised eyebrow and tilted my head to the side.

"Huh? What's that?" She looked as if she had just assumed that I knew what that was. The Professor gestured to her that he would keep looking for the pieces and that she could show me what the food replicator was. She stood up and led me into another room that looked like a mix between a dining room and a living room, with a few couches, something that looked like a TV, and a door that led into another room, that, as far as I could see, was empty. In one corner was a big white contraption that looked kinda like a table you'd see in a cafè from the fifties- you know, those kinds of tables that have the benches and the table stuck together. Only on the table was something that looked like a mix between a dome and a microwave. She pressed a button and a small lamp-like thing came out of the top and small thingies that I really don't how to describe, maybe something similar to a plug of some kind. She pulled on one of them and gave it to me.

"Place this to your head, think of whatever food you wanna eat, and it'll appear right there." She pointed at the table's dome-microwave and then started to walk away. I turned around before she could leave and yelled.

"Wait! I can ask for _anything_ I want? Anything at all? Like, I can ask for food from my planet if I'd like to?" She shrugged and smiled at me.

"Sure! As far as I know, there are no limits. Now, you'll have to excuse me. I have to go and help the Professor." I nodded, sat down on the bench and placed the plug on my forehead. Okay, so I could ask for anything I wanted? Let's try something simple. I thought of a pepperoni pizza, fresh and newly baked, and a tall glass of Coke, with a small salad on the side. I had to eat something more nutritious, too.

April had once brought a few sodas over to the lair, a few weeks after we had met her, and we all loved it- though, in true sibling fashion, we all liked different kinds. Leo loved Sprite, Raph really liked Dr. Pepper, and Mikey had fallen for Fanta. I think it's because it's orange and Mikey loves orange. Me, I had grown a liking to Coke. When we were out of coffee, a can of Coke worked just as well at keeping me awake.

A soft ding brought me out of my thoughts and a hatch opened, revealing a large plate of steaming hot pepperoni pizza and a tall glass of coke- even a straw was included! On the side was a small bowl of lettuce, plum tomatoes, cucumber and some paprika. I smelled the food and after eating little to nothing for these past few days, except for that goop in the prison, it smelled glorious. I took the plate, the glass and the salad and sat down on the couch to eat there instead. Okay; I could eat anything I wanted without doing anything harder than thinking about it, there was a shower with warm water all the time, nice and comfortable suits, and enough entertainment to keep me busy. I could definitely get used to this- at least until I could go home again.

I grabbed one of the pieces and took a big bite out of the pizza, and just like how I had enjoyed the warm water in the shower, the taste alone was sent from the heavens. So. Good. I finished it in seconds and picked up another slice just as Jhanna walked through another door, now with empty hands and a small smile on her face.

"Well, I've gotten rid of my Federation uniform! Finally, I've been wanting to destroy that thing for..." She trailed off when she saw what I had on my plate and halfway to my face. She walked up, pointed at the slice of pizza in my hand and frowned at it.

"What _is_ that?" I eyed my plate, shrugged and tried to show the pizza a bit better, but she just jerked away from it as if it was toxic waste or something.

"It's pizza. It's a dish on Earth. It's dough that you roll and form into a circle, like this. You put some tomato sauce on it, some cheese, and then whatever ingredients you want. Pepperoni, chili, pineapple, ham- whatever! My brother usually puts everything he wants on the pizza, and sometimes it's a bit disturbing… But whatever, right?" Jhanna still glared untrustingly at the pizza, as though afraid it would suddenly jump up and attack her.

"Ugh, it looks nasty. Is that something people on your planet eat a lot?" I shrugged and offered a slice to her.

"I… guess... I mean, yeah, they do; it's very easy to get and not very expensive, either. My friends say that the humans on Earth usually order pizza because they don't have the time or energy to cook something for themselves. Plus, it's really, really good." Jhanna rolled her eyes and looked to the side for a second, mumbling to herself.

"Sounds pretty lazy." I rolled my eyes back at her and placed a hand on my side.

"Says the girl whose people have developed a machine that can recreate any food you want with nothing else but your thoughts. Come on, Jhanna, at least _try_ it. You never know; you might like it." She jerked away from my hand as though burned and looked at the pizza suspiciously. She looked back at me, I smiled reassuringly, and she looked back at the slice and sighed.

"Ugh, _fine_. I guess it can't be worse than that goop they tried to feed us in prison." She hesitantly moved the pizza up to her mouth, braced herself and then took a bite and shut her eyes tightly, as if that would get rid of the taste. But after a few seconds she opened her eyes and smacked her lips. She then shrugged a little and gave the slice back.

"Hmm. Not bad. Nothing _great_ , but good, I guess." I shrugged and started to eat the rest of the pizza. She took a seat at the replicator; I guess she wanted to eat something familiar to her, and that's totally fine. Everybody's entitled to their own opinions. I picked up one of the tomatoes and threw it into my mouth, sipped some Coke and ate some more of my pizza. And I have to say; pizza had never tasted to good in my life. Not even that first time we tasted it when we were allowed to go topside for the first time.

Once I had finished my meal, I walked back out to the control room and saw Starlee and the Professor still working at the computers. I curiously scanned over all of the technology in the room, and I had to say that it was amazing. The white metal and the orange coloured lights was one thing, but the tech was simply incredible. I almost had to remind myself that I wasn't dead and this wasn't some sort of tech-geek Heaven.

I walked up to the computer, looked over Starlee's shoulder and tried to see what they were doing. It was still pretty new-looking, but, in a way, I could understand some of it. I think. From what I could tell, Starlee had- well, to put it simply- typed 'Black Hole Generator' into the computer's database, and now they were looking, alongside the search programs, for the pieces. Seemed simple enough, but there were billions upon billions of planets out there, so this could very well take some time.

"Oh, hello, Donatello! Did you want something?" I looked up and saw that the Professor was watching me curiously and Starlee had looked up from her typing and up at me with surprise and confusion. I backed away a little and smiled awkwardly.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to spy or anything; I was just wondering how you were doing. If you found something, anything at all, that might help us." Starlee smiled, scooted over in her seat so I could see the screens more easily, and pointed at the orange lights.

"Well, we haven't found any of the pieces yet, but I managed to dig up some information about the invention. Apparently the Intergalactic Allegiance, which is a group of aliens from almost every intelligent planet in the galaxy -and some from others- that works to try and keep peace throughout the galaxy. It has been trying to deal with the Kraang as well as the Triceratons for a long time. And when they found out about the Black Heart (or Black Hole Generator, whatever you wanna call it), they confiscated it from the Kraang. But other than that, we haven't found much. Yet anyway. But I'm gonna keep looking for more." I nodded and sat down in the seat beside her.

"Would you like some help? I'm pretty new to this tech, but I'll gladly help in any way I can." She smiled and nodded. I suddenly realized something and looked her in the eye.

"I don't think I've properly introduced myself to you, so let me try. My name is Donatello, but I guess you've figured that out by now." Out of instinct, and manners, I reached out my hand for her to shake, but she looked pretty confused as she stared at it. Then, instead of taking it, she reached out her own hand towards me, copying my gesture with her hand extended uselessly in the air a few inches away from mine.

"Well, I'm Starlee! Nice to properly meet you." I grinned and shook my head slowly.

"Uh, heh. No, no, no, that's not exactly what I meant. On my planet, when you introduce yourself to somebody new, you shake hands- like this." I took her hand in mine and shook it. She studied our interlocked hands for a moment and nodded slowly.

"Ohh, okay, I get it. Does everybody greet others like that?" I shrugged and smiled.

"Well, not everybody. It varies from place to place, especially on Earth; for example, in the land my father comes from, when you want to show respect for somebody as you greet them, you bow to them." I bowed shortly and looked back up at her. "It kinda depends on where you live on my planet. We all have different cultures and different ways of seeing things. But let's get back to the Black Hole Generator, shall we?" Starlee nodded and turned back to the screen and started typing again. She explained to me what I had to do, and how to find more info- from reliable sources, of course- and patiently explained the language when I just got lost in all the different signs and symbols.

I don't know how long we sat there, but after awhile, I started to get the hang of it. There were still things I didn't understand every now and then, but I started to understand how things worked around here. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

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 **A/N: WHY DO I HAVE WRITE SO LONG CHAPTERS? WHY?! *heavy sigh*. Okay, I'm fine now.**

 **Alright, now some of you may say that Donnie adapts to space, the tech and everthing way too quickly, but considering how in the show the turtles, April and Casey adapt to all the new space technology practically in first episode of season 4 (and in seconds none the less), then I don't see any problems with it. If the show can do it, then so can I.**

 **Now, I am pretty sure that I can't update before Sunday (where I live anyway) so you might have to wait a bit for the next chapter, but I think I'll be able to update up when I'm with my cousins.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	23. Chapter 22, On our way to Filione

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Merry Christmas, everybody! I hope you all have a great holiday! And also, YAY, I managed to update! And I come here with a new chapter that you can see as an early Christmas gift from me. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 22, On our way to Filione

Starlee, the Professor and I had worked at the computers for a very long time- although exactly _how_ long, I wasn't sure; partly because I had no idea what time it was when we started, and partly because I didn't know how time worked in this part of space and how these people saw time. But after -what I think was- hours of work, we called the other aliens to the computers to tell them what we had found out.

"Okay, Donnie, what is it this time? Found any Triceratons and want to pick a fight with them?" Mona Lisa leaned against the wall and looked at me as if I had done her some wrong. I glared back at her. This girl was really getting on my nerves, but I had to stay calm.

"No, Mona Lisa, we haven't found any Triceratons. In fact, we've bought ourselves some time, and we have a head start since they, for the time of being, don't have any ships. At least, not that many, anyway. No, we've found some info on the Black Hole Generator and how we can find it." I saw Jhanna sit up straighter from where she sat on the stairs, where Traximus had wrapped up his knee earlier, and stare at us expectantly.

"Really? Well, what did you find? How much do you know?" Starlee typed on the computers, and on the 'windshield' of the ship, a picture of the Black Hole Generator, a big circle-shaped device made out of some kind of metal, appeared, along with information about it on the side.

"The Black Hole Generator was an invention of the Kraang, built centuries ago while the Kraang and the Triceratons still fought against each other. It was built to destroy the Triceratons once and for all, and they used it to suck the Triceratons' planet into oblivion forever. They didn't realize that a handful of Triceratons had managed to survive in their ships. But I assume you all know that story." Starlee smiled apologetically at Traximus, who shrugged with an understanding smirk. I took over and walked up to the picture of the Black Hole Generator, pressing on three places in the picture and splitting the invention up into three sections.

"At the time, the Intergalactic Allegiance had tried in every way they could to help stop the war between the Triceratons and the Kraang, and when they found out about the Black Heart, they confiscated it from the Kraang, destroyed any evidence of the invention that the Kraang had, and then split it up into three pieces and hid it on the most well-hidden and unknown planets they could find, hoping nobody would ever find the pieces and put it back together." The pieces on the screen floated away from each other and then disappeared onto three different planets with no names. I turned back to the others.

"There's also a rumor about a fourth piece that is crucial if the machine is to work the way it's supposed to, but we couldn't find very much information about it. So we assume that it's not real, but we'll keep our minds open just in case. And we'll keep looking for more on it." The Professor stepped up to the screen as well and pointed at the three planets.

"We haven't found the two last pieces, but we have found a planet where the first piece most likely is. Planet Zerij is a planet covered in nothing but rock, and most of it is riddled with caves- it is pretty hollow, similar to one of those cheese sorts you can find on D'Hoonib." Oh, so D'hoonib had its own version of Swiss cheese? 'Cause that's how I saw the planet's hollow structure and had tried to explain it as such, but Starlee and the Professor hadn't understood what I meant. Anyway, the planet Zerij appeared on the screen- it was a dark grey rock planet that looked like a bigger, darker version of the moon.

"There's also very little intelligent life on the planet; all we could find as a sign of life was a few species of fish that live deep down in the underground lakes in the lower tunnels. We tracked one of the fragments to this planet, and we believe it's hidden somewhere in the depths of the tunnels or in one of the caves. The ship is now headed in Zerij's direction, and if Donatello's calculations are correct, we'll be there in about five days." Starlee stood up again took a small tablet from the instrument board, pressed on the screen a few times and then shot a glance over at Mona Lisa for a second. She then walked up to her, pressed her tablet to her chest and folded her arms over it.

"But, since we've also promised Mona Lisa to drop her off on her own planet, we'll make a small stop on Filione to gather some supplies and rest up a little. Fortunately, there's also a wormhole only a few days away that will take us closer to Filione. Also Zerij is also really close to Filione, so we'll be there in about a week, maybe a little more- give or take." Mona smiled – for the first time in a while, now- and played a little with a strand of her brown hair.

"Thank you, Starlee," She nodded at the robot, "Professor. I really appreciate it." I rolled my eyes at her. Oh, sure, 'cause Starlee and the Professor were clearly the only geniuses around here. Clearly some things were still the same since I left Earth. I guess it's true, what they say- that a true genius is never appreciated in his time. Starlee shrugged, and while her mouth smiled, her eyes didn't look quite as friendly. The arms she folded over her chest tightened and she nodded her head in my direction, her bangs falling over her eyes.

"Thank Donnie- _he_ was the one who looked for the quickest way to Filione and then to Zerij. He took quite some time to think up a way to get to Zerij as quickly as possible without having to take too much of a detour that would allow us to drop you off on the way." She brushed her hair out of her eyes and then walked up to the instrument board and placed her tablet on the polished white metal.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go and take a shower. If anybody needs to know anything more or has any questions, go to Donnie or the Professor. They'll explain everything that they know to you." She walked over to the door that led to the shower room and disappeared through the automated doors. Mona Lisa looked over at me and then down at the floor, her hair covering most of her face as she folded her arms over her chest.

"Thanks," She muttered, then left the room. I rolled my eyes. What was the deal with this girl? Why could she never even _try_ to sound pleasant? Couldn't even look me in the eyes when she thanked me. I crossed my arms and glared after her.

"Oh no, it's nothing. Really, you don't need to shower me with so much gratitude- it was nothing. _Really_." I pressed a few buttons on the instrument boards, shutting down the visuals on the screen, and then turned to the Professor.

"Professor, you start setting the coordinates for the wormhole that'll take us to Filione, and start increasing the ship's speed from eight to eleven. We wanna keep as big a distance between us and the Triceratons as possible. I'll come and help in a minute." He nodded and started to type on one of the keyboards on the walls of the ship. I walked up to Jhanna, who smiled and played a little with one of her ponytails.

"Nice presentation. You really sound like you know what you're talking about. Are you good with science and tech?" I blushed slightly and nodded at her.

"Well, heh- I don't wanna brag or anything, but I've always been interested in science, technology and finding out how things worked. I guess I got interested after accidentally blowing up the toaster at home when I was three, and since then I've been stuck to the subjects." I chuckled awkwardly and rubbed the back of my neck. Jhanna looked confused and her arms dropped to her sides.

"What's a toaster?" I stopped laughing and looked at her with equally confused eyes. Eventually I shrugged and tried to figure out what to say.

"Well, it's a small machine that heats your bread, if you like it that way. Or just thaws it- like, if your bread is frozen, you can put it in a toaster and it'll get warmer faster and makes it really tasty. Kinda crunchy and browner and-" I looked at her and saw she was still confused and just dropped it. "Eh, forget it. It doesn't matter." Jhanna nodded and looked back out the window.

"Though there's one thing I don't understand. The Triceratons want to use a Black Hole Generator to destroy your planet, right? So what makes you guys think that we can ride through a black hole without getting destroyed in the process?" I shook my head and started to explain.

"Oh no no, it's not a _black_ hole, it's a _worm_ hole. They're quite different, I assure you. A black hole is a region of space from which nothing, including light, can escape. Any matter or light entering the black hole's even horizon remains there and can never come out again. A wormhole is more like a tunnel through space." I picked up a piece of paper, upon which I had earlier written some notes, and a pen.

"Picture that this is space, right? Well, let's say that space is filled with wormholes and that space is two dimensional." I folded the paper on the half. "And if there's a wormhole here, it'll be like a tunnel that'll lead from one place in space to another, like this." I pressed the tip of the pen through the paper, and then folded it back out again. "So a wormhole is a tunnel that'll lead from here to there." I pointed to one of the holes and then to the other. Jhanna nodded and I could practically see the wheels in her head turning as she processed the information.

"Okay, I think I get it. So black holes swallow everything and nothing can ever escape, and a wormhole is like a shortcut from one place to another, right?" I nodded and put the paper down again.

"That's right, you've got it. It's really not so hard, is it?" She shook her head and fingered the sword in her belt. Then, after a few seconds of thought, she started to walk towards the room with the Food-Replicator and the couches.

"No, I guess not. Well, if you'll excuse me, I'll go and train in the holographic chamber- in there. Good luck with those computers," She looked over her shoulder and winked. "Captain." She then slipped through the doors.

I froze on the spot. 'Captain'? Said who? Who on this ship had _ever_ said _anything_ about me being _captain_? Oh, heck no. I had just helped with the computers and with some other things. I wasn't a leader. I had _never_ lead anyone in my life. And now people expected me to be captain aboard a space ship? No way, no how! I could never do that.

"Donatello?" I turned to Traximus, who had placed his big hand on my shoulder and was gazing down on me with a concerned look on his face. "Are you alright? You look a little pale." I shrugged and looked down at floor, biting my lip.

"I don't know. I guess I'm still trying process everything that's happened so far. I mean, I'm in space, on a spaceship, and I have two alien races chasing me- and my friends- to either destroy or kidnap us. I don't know if I can handle it. I don't..." I sighed and looked up from the floor.

"I don't know if I'm ready for this." Traximus hummed a little and removed his hand from my shoulder to pat me on the shell instead.

"Donatello, there are a lot of people that never feel ready for what the world and their planets, their leaders or their people throw at them. Sometimes they are ready and sometimes they're not. But sometimes, you have to make yourself ready for it. Because it might depend on the betterment of their worlds, their planets or their people. If you have make a sacrifice or change yourself to make sure you're ready, then that would be a very small price to pay, wouldn't it?" He walked away and I stared after him, part of me wanting to stop him to talk to him some more and the other part still processing what he had said. And the more I thought it over, the more I thought that he had a really good point.

If I were to go on this journey and also win in the end, I had to change a few things. I couldn't be a nitpicker; I had to toughen up and be stronger than I had been before. I had never really been that strong, since I had always thought that Raph and Leo were the strong ones, and I usually stuck to the shadows. I was always the strong one _mentally_. But that was about to change.

I had to be strong both mentally and physically, and if it was true, what Jhanna said- that I was captain now- then I would have to act like it, too. It might be hard and it was probably going to be tougher than anything I had ever done, but, just like the training with Traximus, I had to do it in order to succeed- it was necessary for Earth the people who lived there.

I nodded to myself and walked back to the computers and the instrument boards, sat down beside the Fugitoid and started to turn the ship slightly and program in the destination of the wormhole, about 10 light-years away from us. The Professor had increased the speed to eleven and I quickly calculated that if we went this speed with consistency, we would arrive at the wormhole in three days. Seemed doable, and seeing how we still had that head start, we could make it to Filione and get to Zerij without the Triceratons ever getting there before we had already left. Still, I hoped it was enough and that the Triceratons didn't figure out where the piece was- or follow us to it.

I sighed heavily, leaned back in my seat and placed both hands over my face. So much was happening and I was still running to catch up with it all. My head was spinning, my eyes were dropping and everything still felt so new. I know that ninjas adapt and that we've had to do it before, but I had to adapt to so much and it was all happening so fast that I didn't quite catch it all. Still, I had to keep going. I wasn't about to quit just because I was a little tired.

"Donatello, are you listening?" I snapped out my thoughts, lowered my hands and looked at the Professor, who seemed confused. I rubbed my hands over my face and felt the fatigue wash over me.

"Oh, sorry, Professor. I'm just a little tired, that's all. Uh, what were you saying?" The Professor looked from the computers to me.

"Um, I said that I have just activated the auto-pilot and that you can go and relax. You look a little pale and you obviously need some rest." I shook my head. No, I was not about to look weak right now. I had decided to be stronger; I couldn't back down seconds after I had made that decision.

"Oh, really? Is there nothing I can do here? Maybe the fuel tanks need to be overlooked? I mean, seeing how we've increased our speed to get to the wormhole quicker, more fuel will be used, right? Maybe if we lower the heat to the ship, more fuel will be used and we might spare some more if we-" The Professor suddenly reached his arm towards me and placed his hand on my forehead. I had no idea if he could feel warmth with his robotic body, but seeing how he was a very advanced robot I guess anything was possible.

"Donatello, you have a fever. All right, it's not very high, but it's still there. You really should get some rest. Go and lie down in the one of the beds to rest a little. I can guarantee you that if something goes wrong in any way, there will be an alarm that would wake a sleeping giant if it sounded off. Now go and rest. There's a room ready for you in the corridor from the dinner room, fifth door on the right." I sighed, stood up walked into the room that Jhanna had gone through. I saw her training with her sword, but I didn't really look that much at her- I just walked through another door and into a corridor.

Jhanna had mentioned something about bedrooms when she had gone to burn her clothes earlier, so I guess they had already chosen which room they wanted. I opened the fifth door on the right and came into a medium-sized room. There wasn't much in there: a small dresser for my spacesuit and gear, a lamp that lit up the room pretty well, a nightstand, and a bed- a pretty big bed, compared to one in my room back home, which was twin-sized, had a thin blanket and a pretty flat mattress. This bed was probably, at the very least, queen sized, had a thick covers and big pillows.

I guess this ship had been used for people in very high places on D'hoonib, since everything here was so comfortable. I felt like a prince, since I could eat whatever I wanted, train in an advanced dojo and an experienced teacher, up to date technology around me and sleep on a bed that made me feel like I was sleeping on clouds. I sat down on the bed to test the mattress, and it felt marvellous. I immediately lied down, nuzzled my face into the pillow and sighed. Yeah, I could totally get used to this.

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(Zanramon's P.O.V)

"So you know where they're headed?" Commander Mozar kneeled before me and lowered his head to the floor.

"Yes, Prime Leader. They're headed towards the planet Filione, and that's a long way from here. They won't get there until the end of the month. The piece must be there, and they'll lead us right to it. That little brat destroyed most of our ships, but we have a few that still work. Our mother ship is also ready for takeoff, but it will be quite, um, conspicuous, and our enemies will spot us immediately if we take it. What are your orders, Sir?" I thought it over and then gave my answer.

"Send out as many of our ships as you can after those brats- but don't destroy them! It's likely that they know where the pieces are by now and they'll most likely go there, so follow them. They will lead us to the demise of The Kraang, and of Earth..."

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 **A/N: Dun dun dun! Yeah, not much happened, but still. There can't be action in every chapter, right? And I also try to sound smart in this chapter and for the future, but I'm not a genius in those particular areas*, so I'm doing the best I can.**

 ***This is where Kame tried to be self-depreciating ("but I'm not smart"), and also where I, Violet, her beta, refuse to let her say such nonsense. Kame, you're VERY freaking SMART! Don't go hating on yourself, girl!**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	24. Chapter 23, He will live in our memories

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Merry Christmas! Feliz Navidad! Buon Natale! Joyeux Noël! Fröhliche Weihnachten! God Jul! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday, 'cause I sure am! I'm done with all presents, the candy's in the making and we have a Christmas tree ready as well! I'd say we're all ready for Christmas to come!**

 **And here's my last Christmas gift- a chapter for you! And it's focusing on family and togetherness, even in hard times! Sounds good, right? And with this chapter, I want to wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year! Thank you all for reading this story and for reviewing, favoriting and following me and my stories. It means so much to me, and I hope you'll want to keep reading next year as well.**

 **Well, Merry Christmas again! Hope you'll like this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 23, He will live on in our memories

Today was a somber day. If it were raining, I would not be the least bit surprised. The boys had been more quiet than usual since they woke up, and Raphael in particular had been more testy than he had been for the past ten days since- well, since Donatello left us. Michelangelo had reddened eyes and was constantly trying to wipe away persistent tears. Leonardo had said nothing since he came out of his room with a slumped posture and eyes that were in another world. Any other day I would not have let my sons act like this, but today was an exception. They deserved to let their emotions control them today.

We had invited April and Casey over for a short memorial ceremony in honor of Donatello and his life and everything he had done. It had been a painfully short life for him- barely enough time to spend time together as father and son, for the boys to just be brothers and for us all to be a family. But, sadly, everything good or wonderful must come to an end at some point in life. But why did it have to happen so soon? I had always feared this- that one of my sons would lose their life because of everything that they faced in their fights against the Kraang and the Shredder, as well as mutants and the countless other threats that existed in this city. And now it had finally happened. And the pain has been unbearable for ten days straight.

"Master Splinter?" I looked up from the picture in my hands and saw Michelangelo standing in the door to my room with concerned eyes that were still red. "We're done decorating the dojo now, and April and Casey texted us. They'll be here any second. Are you... are you coming out?" I sighed. I had barely left this room since I had heard the news, and I was ashamed to say that I hadn't thought much of the rest of my family. But now I knew that they needed me, and I needed them. I needed to be reminded that there were still some things in my life that I could live for.

"Yes, my son. I will join you in a moment. Just give me a minute, please. I need to collect myself." Michelangelo nodded, backed out of my room and closed the door softly behind him. I took a breath and looked down at the picture in my hands- the picture of a six-year-old Donatello, surrounded by his books and tools, two thick cables, a frustrated look on his face and his tongue sticking out of his mouth. Two small tears found their way from my eyes and landed on my precious little Donatello, wetting the image but not ruining it.

"Donatello, my little boy, I miss you so. And so do your brothers, your friends, and everybody you left an impact on. I hope that you know, wherever you are now, that I will always have a place for you in my heart. I love you, and I will never forget you, my child." I put the photo down and stood up again. As I left the room and walked out into the dojo, I couldn't help but scan over the room with a sick feeling in my stomach. I knew I had to move on and start to train the others again. It was going to be hard to see an empty spot where Donatello was supposed to be training alongside his family like he had always done. But it had to be done, and things had to go back to how they had used to be. Or, at least as close to normal as they could ever be.

I looked out over the dojo with a less distracted eye as I shook myself out of the haze of sorrow and grief- and it was a very beautiful sight. White lilies, orchids and roses that April had gotten for us were spread over the walls and the floor; there were even some purple flowers as well, scattered throughout the kaleidoscope of magnificent colors. Candles were lit, giving the room a nice atmosphere- yet, at the same time, a somber air as well; one that unmistakably belonged to a funeral. The boys hadn't decorated much, but the little that was there was more than enough to make me feel sad- like I was at an actual human funeral. And, beside the photo of my wife and daughter that I so cherished, was a picture of Donatello, smiling his wide, gap-toothed smile with an unparalleled happiness in his big brown eyes. It almost brought me to tears again to see his beautiful smile.

Leonardo and Raphael were helping each other put some flowers up in the tree, but when they saw me outside of my room, they hurried to finish what they were doing and came over to me. They were very cautious, as if they thought I was emotionally unstable and were just making sure I wouldn't retreat back to my room at the slightest provocation.

"Sensei? Are you alright? I mean, you haven't left your room in several days." Leonardo asked the question very mildly and I could tell that he was trying very hard not to upset me. I smiled wearily at him and stroked his cheek with the back of my hand.

"I am fine, Leonardo; thank you for asking. I am simply a little... distraught, that's all." I looked over at Raphael, wrapped one arm around him and the other around Leonardo, and pulled them close to me. "I need you boys to help me through this. If I don't start training you tomorrow, then you have to promise to drag me out of my room. Otherwise I will never get through this. Promise me that." Both Leonardo and Raphael stared at me as if I was crazy, shared an uncertain glance, and then looked up at me again.

"We, uh, promise, Master Splinter." Leonardo agreed, and then a small ding from his belt made him break eye contact and take out his T-Phone. He looked at it for a second and then looked up again.

"April and Casey just got here, and April says she has the flowers we wanted for the altar. I'll go get them." He left the room and closed the door. Michelangelo entered seconds later with two medium sized candles in both hands. He approached the photo of Donatello and placed the candles on each side of the frame, then lit them.

"There. I think everything's done now, Master Splinter." I smiled and walked up to him, placing my hands on his shoulders.

"You have all done well, my sons. I am thankful for having you all here to help me see that there are still things I want to live for. Thank you." My two remaining sons smiled at me, but I saw small tears forming in their eyes as well. Michelangelo buried his face in my chest and tried to hold back his sobs. Raphael folded his arms over his chest and looked away from us. He still held onto the hope that Donatello was still alive, so he was against this event with every fiber of his being. However, he still wanted to be here and honor his brother's memory. I sighed, shook my head at my hotheaded son and instead focused on comforting my youngest boy, who still struggled against his overwhelming grief.

Leonardo walked in through the door to the dojo again, with April and Casey following behind him. April had exchanged her yellow t-shirt and shorts with a black dress that went down to her knees and her yellow headband was replaced with a black one, and she had also let her hair out of her usual ponytail. She still had her leggings and her boots though. Casey hadn't changed his clothes, but he still looked more sympathetic than usual. Donatello hadn't really made friends with Casey as well as the others, but they still had an understanding between each other and they still cared for each other as friends. And he clearly felt sad that one of his friends had lost his life.

"Hey, Master Splinter. It's nice to see you again." April walked up and smiled at me. I returned the smile and placed my unoccupied arm around her. She immediately wrapped her arms around me as well and nuzzled her face into my robe next to Michelangelo. She had been like a daughter to me since I had gotten to know her, and while her father had been kidnapped by the Kraang she had talked to me and looked to me as if I was her surrogate father.

"Thank you, April, for everything you have gotten for this day. These flowers and the candles are beautiful. Thank you." She nodded, pulled away from my robe and dried her eyes a little. Still, small tears managed to slip through her eyelids and down her cheeks. Casey placed his arm around her and she leaned into his embrace as more tears fell from her eyes. He looked up at me with sympathy, and his usual cocky attitude and self-confidence were nowhere to be seen.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Master Splinter. For all of you." I smiled at him, placed my hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eyes.

"Thank you, Casey. My family appreciates your concern." He nodded and then glanced over at Raphael, who still stood by the wall with his arms folded over his chest, and looked down at the floor with a stubborn scowl. He gently let go of April and walked over to my son while Leonardo came to me with a small bouquet of flowers. Last night all of my sons, April, and Casey had gone through web pages to find flowers with symbolism that fitted the situation and who it was that they wanted to give the flowers to. Leonardo started to hand out a flower to each one in the room and then kept one to himself. He turned to April and smiled softly.

"Thanks, April." She nodded, dried her eyes and cheeks and clutched the flower in her hand, a yellow rose that she said symbolized friendship and sent a joyful message to the one it was given to.

"The website said that it's meant to be given to your best friend; it's symbol of friendship and it says 'Hey, thank you for being you'. Isn't it beautiful?" She sniffed the yellow flower before she walked up to the photo of Donatello. Her smile faded, another tear fell from her eye and she placed the flower on the altar.

"Thank you for being my friend, Donnie. No one will ever be as good a friend as you have been to me, and I don't think I'll ever be able to thank you for everything you've done for me. I'll miss you." She kissed the tips of two of her fingers and then gently pressed them against the photo, then backed away from the altar again. Casey placed his arm around her gently before he took a few steps forward and looked at the photo.

"Hey, Donnie. I know that you and I haven't exactly gotten along that well, and that you don't have a lot in common with me, but I'd still like to think that we were good friends. You always amazed me with everything you could do. So, I got you this flower- a purple orchid. My dad said that it symbolizes respect and admiration, 'cause you always blew me away with everything you built, even if I didn't always make life easy for you." He placed his flower on the altar and backed away from it. He walked up to April and hugged her close as she let her tears fall.

Michelangelo was next to step forward, and in his hand was a Sunflower, which I believe I heard was a symbol for loyalty. He stepped up to the altar as well and fingered the big yellow petals. He had tears falling from his eyes, yet he didn't try to stop or hide them.

"Hey, D; what's up? Heh, you know, up in Heaven. Eh, I hope that you are in Heaven, anyway." He shook his head and cleared his throat. "Sorry. So, uh… anyway, I really, really miss you. And I really miss how you were always there for me- even if I always annoyed you or broke your stuff and experiments. And no matter how much we annoyed you or disrespected you, you always came through and helped us. So here's a sunflower. I read that it symbolizes loyalty, so I thought it would fit." His voice started to crack and he quickly put the flower down on the altar running back and throwing himself into Leonardo's arms. Leonardo quickly wrapped his arms around his younger brother and patted him on the shell as he started to cry.

Raphael stepped away from the wall where he had stood up until now and twirled the flower in his fingers, a pink carnation. He tentatively walked up to the altar and glanced over his shoulder at us with dislike and a little hesitation in his eyes. Then he rolled his eyes and looked back at the photo of his younger brother, sighing.

"Okay, look, Donnie. I'm still really against this idea since I really think that you're still out there, somewhere, alive. But I'd still like to give you something that shows that I care about you. Donnie, you've always done so much for me- for everyone, really- without asking for anything in return. Not even a thank you. And that feels wrong, at least to me. So, I'll give you this. Yeah yeah, I know- it's a pink flower, big deal! Go ahead and make fun! But besides that, the flower means gratitude- and I hope it's enough to show you how thankful I am to have had you as a brother." He placed the flower between April's and Michelangelo's flowers, then stepped back from the photo and stood beside Leonardo, folding his arms over his chest and trying to ignore the tears that fell from his eyes. He then looked over at Leonardo, nudged him on the shoulder and nodded towards the altar.

Leonardo gently let go of Michelangelo and stepped forward. He bore a blue flower with slightly purple petals. He looked up at the picture of Donatello.

"Donnie, I have no idea how to say this, but I'll try to anyway. You have to be the most good-hearted, strong-willed and optimistic person I've ever met, and I took advantage of that. I really hope that this flower can at least help you consider forgiving me. It's a Hydrangea; it symbolizes heartfelt emotions as well as perseverance. My emotions are genuine and heartfelt, and you've always amazed me with your own perseverance. Hopefully it'll be enough to show you how sorry I am for not being there for you like I should have been- like you _always_ were for me." He placed the flower and rejoined his brothers. I took a deep breath. Now it was my turn, and it was going to be hard.

I approached the altar and looked the picture of my son straight in the eyes, clutching the flower in my hand a little tighter, and then began to speak.

"Donatello, my son. Ever since the day you gazed on me with your intelligent eyes, you've never ceased to amaze me. Your intelligence outdid my own when you were only six. You built your lab all on your own, with nothing but things you found in the garbage and the junkyard. But that's not what I found most fascinating about you. Your strength and will to live always drove you to succeed in almost everything you did. So now, I give you a Lotus: the symbol of beauty amongst so much ugliness, which I've always seen in you and your brothers, but also because of your strength and lust for life. I also hope it will give you ascension." I took a deep breath to try and fight off tears. "I- I love you, my child." I went to my sons and placed my arms around them- my only remaining children. They leaned into my embrace, and April and Casey gave us some space to let us grieve in peace.

* * *

(Mikey's P.O.V)

After we all had grieved to the point where we felt done, we all went to the kitchen to drink some tea and eat some cake. April had brought it over and said we could eat after the Memorial Ceremony. She also said we could just talk about Donnie and how we had seen him before. We were currently sitting at the table, eating a little and just talking, sometimes even laughing a little. Well, all of us except for Raph, who wasn't talking at all and just poked the cake with his spoon.

"You know, I've always admired how he always saw the bright side of things, and that, no matter how dark the situation was, he'd always try to make things better, however he could. I don't think I've ever met somebody so optimistic." April said with a smile on her face, and even though it looked like she still had tears in her eyes, she seemed happy. Leo nodded and swallowed some tea.

"Yeah. Remember all those times when he tried to be funny, even though his jokes were always terrible- and he knew it?" I nodded and ate some more cake.

"I wish I had laughed more. Or, at the very least, tried to laugh- even if it was hard." Leo nodded with a soft laugh and April placed her hand over mine.

"Yeah, me too. We all do." Casey took another bite of cake, looked thoughtful for a second and then gazed up at us again.

"Y'know, I know that Donnie and I weren't exactly best friends, or even good friends in general- but I have to admit, when he wasn't throwing insults at me, he was a very selfless person. All of his efforts went to others- to help everyone he could. I've never met a person in this city that's _that_ concerned about other people, even those he didn't know or those that would surely never be thankful to him. I always thought that people in New York only thought of themselves. Well, at least _most_ of them." He glanced over at April, who smiled teasingly with a raised brow. She then shook her head with a small smile and rolled her eyes at him. Master Splinter put his tea down and looked at us with tearful eyes and a very small smile.

"Mm, yes. Donatello often put the needs of others before himself, and thus put a lot of burden upon himself. Perhaps more than was necessary. But his spirit was always strong and he always meant well. His spirit will always be with us, even if he can't be here himself." Raph shook his head and shut his eyes tightly- a few small tears managed to slip through, anyway, and then he slammed his clenched fist on the table, making everybody jump out of their seats and stare at him.

"Will you _STOP_ saying that?! Donnie's not gone forever- I _know_ he's not! I know Donnie, and he would _never_ let the Kraang take him down that easily! Especially not with something as simple as their stupid portal! He'll come home, I just _know_ he will!" Leo leaned over the table and placed his hand on Raph's shoulder, but Raph just shook it off and glared up at us. Before Leo could say anything to placate, Casey interrupted.

"Raph, man, give it a rest. We all know you're not gonna stop hoping that Donnie'll come home, but that doesn't mean that the rest of us will believe in the impossible." Raph's eyes widened, and for a moment, I thought he was gonna cry. Then he got up from his chair and ran out of the room.

"Raphael!" Master Splinter stood up, ready to follow him, but I placed my hand on his arm, stopping him from leaving.

"No, Sensei. I'll go and talk to him. I think he just needs somebody to listen to him right now." I got out of my chair without waiting for an answer and ran after Raph.

I found him in the living room; I guess he didn't feel like going topside today. I sat down beside him and saw that he had tears freely flowing down his face.

"Raph?" He looked at me and his grief-stricken look turned into one of distrust and anger. He didn't like it that I was here, but I didn't care. It really looked like he needed somebody right now.

"Whaddaya want? Are you going to tell me I'm wrong, too? Tell me to give up on what I believe is true?" I shook my head and placed my arm around his shoulders.

"Nah, bro. You just look like you need somebody to listen to you and be there for you right now. I don't really know, but it looks like to me like you've been fighting alone with what you think for quite some time. Especially since the rest of us more or less think the same thing. Am I right?" Raph looked at me, surprised. He bit his lip, turned away and wiped his hand over his eyes.

"Mikey, you know when Spike got mutated and ran away before we could take care of him, and now he's out there, fighting the Kraang?" I nodded and he kept talking. "Well, after we had gone home that night, I had this feeling in my gut- like, really deep down. A feeling that wanted Spike to be alright and that made me hope that he was really going to be okay, and even though he had done awful things, I just knew he was okay. You know what I'm saying?" I smiled. I did know that feeling. Well, okay, I hadn't personally _felt_ it, but I knew what he was talking about. So I nodded and hugged his shoulders a little tighter.

"Dude, I totally get what you're talking about. I'm real good with emotions and feelings and stuff!" I lost the happy smile and tried to look a bit more like an adult, still supportive. "And I totally understand that you want Donnie to be okay. I do, too- believe me, I do! But there's a difference between believing and trying to convince yourself. And I think it sounds more like you're trying to convince _yourself_ that Donnie's alive, rather than the rest of us." Raph's head snapped up to glare at me sharply, as if offended.

"I am not!" I raised an eyebrow at him and he suddenly looked a bit unsure. "Maybe a little? Oh, okay! So maybe I _am_ trying to convince myself that what I'm saying is true, but still! There's a feeling in my gut that tells me he's okay. You know that emptiness I said I felt after Spike had escaped and disappeared into the city? It's not there this time! My head tells me to move on and accept that Donnie's gone, but every other fiber in my body tells me to believe- to hope! Please, Mikey; you understand, don't you?" I knew that Splinter and Leo would most likely tell him that it wasn't healthy to keep holding onto this delusion, but something inside of me told me not to say it. But suddenly I knew just what to say.

"Raph, I understand that you want to believe in what you feel, but you can't lose sight of us. We're your family, too, you know. And right now, there are only three of us, and we have to keep an eye on each other. Hope all you want, but don't lose track of what you have right now, okay?" He looked at me with agonized green eyes and bit his lip as tears started to fall once more. And then, out of nowhere, he threw his arms around me and started to bawl into my shoulder like a little child. I had no idea how to react, but after a few seconds -that felt more like hours- I wrapped my arms around him and stroked the back of his head gently.

"It's okay; it's okay, bro. Just let it out, I won't judge you. No one will judge you just because you feel stuff." Raph wrapped his arms tighter around my neck and nuzzled his face into the crook of my neck. We sat there for a while and I just let him hug me and cry for as long as he wanted and needed. After a while he pulled away from me and wiped his eyes.

"Sorry, Mikey. I didn't mean to lose it like that. I- I just... Well, I just, eh..." I placed my hand on his shoulder and made direct eye contact.

"It's cool, bro; everybody needs to let their emotions out every now and then. I don't mind and I don't judge, and neither does any one of the others. I hope you know that and feel like you can talk to us if you feel like you need it." He nodded absentmindedly and looked down at the floor. He did this for a while before he looked up again with a small smile.

"Thanks, bro- but you won't talk about this with the others, right?" I shook my head and grinned.

"Nah, don't worry about it. I won't speak one word to anyone about what just happened. Don't you worry one bit." He smiled and nodded, and I wrapped my arm around his shoulders. "And don't you worry about Donnie. I'm sure that if Donnie is alive out there, he's fine- healthy, unharmed, and on his way here right now!"

* * *

(Donnie's P.O.V)

"Oomph!" I slammed to the floor, _again_ , and frowned grumpily up at Traximus, who had managed to tackle me to the floor for the umpteenth time. And we had only been training for about five minutes and eleven seconds! We were in the training room where I had seen Jhanna training yesterday, before I had gone to bed, and so far, my own attempt hadn't gone so well. I got to my feet again, almost fell back to the floor, then quickly got my balance back and got into a defensive position. Traximus shook his head at me and came closer, placing his hand on my shoulder.

"Donatello, I have to say that I'm a bit disappointed. I attack once and you hit the floor- and then allow me to knock you down again and again. Why?" I glared up at him, placed both hands on my sides.

"Because you knock me down before I get a chance to defend myself! How am I supposed to defend myself or counter your attack when you knock me down every time?" Traximus sighed heavily and placed his hand over his eyes. He shook his head again.

"Donatello, you can't keep looking for an opening all the time! An enemy won't always give you an opening, so you have to keep fighting and keep trying. Do you understand?" I nodded and he nodded curtly back. "Good, now try again!"

I got into a defensive position and prepared myself for the attack. Suddenly, in the corner of my eye, I saw something big coming towards me. I dodged, crawled in between his legs and kicked him in the back of his head. He almost fell forward onto his knees but quickly regained his balance before he fell and swiped his arm at me. I grabbed onto his arm and then kicked him in the armpit. He lost his balance again, but he swung his horn at me and I barely had time to dodge; the tip of his horn actually grazed my nose.

"Whoa!" I went down on my knees, gently touched my nose to see if it was bleeding, then rolled out of the way just as Traximus tried to stomp on me. Wow, this guy was serious about pushing me if he was willing to stomp on me. I was about to kick him, but then he grabbed my leg and threw me into the wall, knocking the wind right out of me and leaving me gasping like a fish. Traximus approached me and extended his hand for me to grab. He helped me up and patted me on the shoulder.

"Not bad, but I still see a lot of room for improvement. Let's move on- I'd like to see how you wield your weapon." I grabbed my bo-staff from the holster on my back and showed it to him. I had switched the big metal staff I had gotten from the spacesuit room with the one I had gotten from the Arena, since it felt more like my old staff from Earth. Traximus looked it over. "Hmm, a staff-weapon? Interesting choice; simple, but also very effective if the wielder is well trained. Now, show me what you can do!" I gripped the staff tightly in my hands, focused on the things I had to do, and started. I had trained a little before Traximus had started to train with me this morning and I felt like I had gotten used to the new staff. But then, of course-

"Ow!" I accidentally smacked one end of the staff against the side of my head, and I was thrown out of my concentration and lost my balance as well. I felt a blush creep onto my cheeks and I felt ashamed that I hadn't been able to handle the weapon. I had worked with the bo-staff since I was a little kid, and now I was completely offbeat. Why? I gazed up at Traximus, who shook his head at me.

"You're thinking about other things. Things that aren't important in this matter. You have to give a hundred and ten percent or I'm afraid that this won't work. I won't train somebody who's not willing to give his all in the training. So, I ask you again: are you sure you can handle all of this?" I sighed and let my head fall backwards. Why was this so hard? What was wrong with me?

"I'm sorry, Traximus. I don't know why I can't concentrate. I want this and I want to get better at fighting, but I can't focus and I don't know why! I guess I'm still adapting, plus this weapon is a bit different from the one I'm used to. I promise that it won't happen again." He nodded slowly and placed a finger on my forehead, causing me to look up at it.

"You think too much. When you walk in here, I want you to leave your brain outside the room and just leave everything that has to do with fighting in there. Okay? Now, I think I have an idea on how to help you train. Wait here, I'll be right back." He exited, left the food area and walked into the control room. I looked around the room for a second, but there wasn't much to see. Nothing but white metal.

Traximus came back about a minute later and along with him was the Professor. They walked up to the instrument board outside the training room, and suddenly I could hear the Professor's voice.

"Okay, Donatello, I will use the Holographic Training Program to recreate your city and some of your enemies. It will take a few seconds, but I promise you, everything you see will be a hologram. A very realistic hologram. Are you ready?" I nodded and the Professor started to type on the computers. Suddenly the room changed, and the big white room turned into a rooftop in New York City, with Kraang swarming around me.

"Whoa, this is way more realistic that I thought it was gonna be." I quickly counted the Kraang to be about twenty, and they were all carrying guns. I have to admit that I did feel a bit nervous to fight the Kraang, considering what had happened the last time. I quickly had to dodge as a Kraang fired its gun at me. I got my bo-staff ready and started to whack Kraang-bots, and suddenly I had to no trouble focusing on what I had to do. I stabbed a Kraang-bot there; saw a squealing little alien crawl away from me there, and after what felt like mere seconds, all of the bots were finished. The city disappeared again and I could see the Professor and Traximus once more.

"Alright, that might have been too easy. But it seems to work wonderfully as a training method. How do you feel?" I felt excitement flow through me and I grinned manically.

"That was awesome! Such realistic holograms used for training? It's beyond anything I've seen on my planet! The tech is beyond amazing! When will all of this cease to amaze me?!" Traximus chuckled.

"That's great. So I take it you're up for one more round?" I smiled, narrowed my eyes and nodded, determined to show what I could do.

"Bring it on!"

* * *

 **A/N: Okay, chapter done!**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody- and once again, Merry Christmas!**


	25. Chapter 24, Back to Normal, Not Really

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Hooray! Happy New Year to you! (Yes, I know I'm late- whatever!) I am over the 100 000 words mark! Which marks this as the longest story I have ever written! I am so happy for that! And I want to thank you all for reading this story, which motivated me to keep writing! Thank you so much!**

 **Sorry I'm so late, but I've had a little bit of a writer's block, had to re-write this chapter a few times plus my older sister was home for a few days, so I've been spending some time with her before she went back to England.**

 **Hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

* * *

Chapter 24: Things Going Back to Normal, But Not Really...

I couldn't believe it. How was this even possible? I had lost the Fugitoid- not once, not twice, but _three_ times now! Father was going to kill me when I reported back to him. A lot of my soldiers had been destroyed or captured by the Triceratons, but I still had a few left- but not enough to make sure we could go after the Fugitoid and his new friends. Curse that terrapin freak! Why did he have to come along and ruin everything we tried to do? I sighed as I sat down in front of the computers and looked over at the pilot, who was awaiting my orders.

"Contact the General- and gather up our soldiers! Make sure that they get the aid they need for their injuries. I wish to talk to my father- alone." He nodded and started by contacting the base, where my father hopefully was right now. A screen appeared in front of me and the pilot immediately left the room, heeding my wish to talk with my father alone. General Blanque appeared on the screen with angry eyes and a big scowl on his face.

"Moriah, I hope that you have some good news to tell me. It would be too bad if something bad happened." I gulped, playing a little with my fingers and my hair as I tried to figure out what to say. After a few seconds, I took a deep breath and looked up at him again.

"Well, no- not really. We attacked the Triceratons, like you ordered us to, but when we did, a lot of the aliens escaped from the Triceratons' prisons." I gulped again and looked down at my boots. "A-along with the Fugitoid. We also lost quite a few of our soldiers, about twenty of our best ones." I couldn't bear to look up at him, but I could practically hear his anger boiling up.

"Did I hear that right? You lost the Fugitoid yet again? And not only that, you also lost a lot of soldiers to the Triceratons? How could you let that happen?!" I bit my lip and let him yell at me until he finally stopped to let me speak.

"Father, it wasn't my fault! They escaped while the Triceratons tried to kill us; we had to save our own lives before we noticed that they were all gone! I- I'm sorry, we didn't-" He rolled his eyes at me, slamming his clenched fist into the table to make me stop talking.

"Silence! You are a complete disappointment! Do you realize that you're making me look like a complete nincompoop when it comes to leading? Our people depend on us to win, and you lose again and again, making them look at me, thinking, 'how can this man lead us?'! You make this family look like amateurs!" I winced at his words and tried to blink back tears of frustration and guilt. Failure. The worst word in the dictionary. Failure: not good enough, not successful, a good-for-nothing daughter. I blinked harder, making sure to kill my tears, and then looked back up at him.

"I just don't understand it! How did the Triceratons learn about the Fugitoid in the first place? How? None of us have figured it out- have you?" I tried to change the subject, but as my father opened his mouth to speak, I saw a woman in the background trying to sneak out of the room. I recognised her- it was Lonae, one of the computer experts at the Federation base. She was the girl my father had yelled at the other day, before I had talked about that terrapin with the Fugitoid.

"Hey! Where are you going?" My father turned around and saw Lonae trying to sneak away- and she saw it, too, and tried to run. Before she could, he grabbed her by the arm and yanked her back.

"Lonae, you seem to know something about this matter! Care to tell us what, or do I have to force it out of you?" No response. He shook her roughly and grabbed her by the jaw, forcing her to look into his eyes. "Huh?!" Lonae stared down at the floor before looking up at her General with a defiant fire burning in her eyes.

"I'd rather die than watch our people and our planet destroy itself in a pointless war! You may kill me, but I'll do anything I can to make sure that Teleportal is as far away from your dirty hands as possible!" Father growled at her and threw her over to one of the as possible!" Father growled at her and threw her over to one of the guards.

"Take her to the cells! I'll deal with her later- right now I have to deal with my daughter!" He turned back to me and the look in his eyes told me he was serious. "Moriah, I will give you another mission, a mission even a no-good like you should be able to handle. Your sister has disappeared, along with one of our ships. Find her and bring her home! If you can't handle that, then don't bother to come home again. _Ever_." The call ended and I found myself alone in the control room, trying to figure out what had just happened. If I didn't find Starlee and bring her home, he would banish me? This wasn't fair. That weird alien had gotten away with the Fugitoid, and with Jhanna as well.

Wait- the Fugitoid had disappeared with that freak, Jhanna along with them. And just when Starlee had figured out that Jhanna was gone and Father wasn't going to do anything about it, she had disappeared as well, along with one of our ships. She must've gone to save her, and might have saved the Fugitoid and the terrapin freak as well. So they must be on the same ship. If that was true, then if I could bring Starlee, Jhanna and the Fugitoid back to my father, he would probably take back this threat of banishment- and might finally be proud of me. I sighed and called back the rest of the guards.

"I have new orders from the General! We are going after the Fugitoid to capture him and to save my sisters from that disgusting terrapin freak- we will bring them and that disgusting robot back to D'hoonib! As for any other aliens on that ship they might be on, they can be destroyed for all I care. But _do not_ harm Starlee or Jhanna! Or the Fugitoid! Understood?" They all nodded and the pilot started to steer the ship away from the Triceraton prison and in the direction that we tracked the Fugitoid to.

* * *

(Mikey's P.O.V)

 _"Mikey... Mikey... Mikey, where are you...?"_

 _I woke up, looking around in confusion, and tried to find who- or what- had woken me. Then I realized that I wasn't in my room. Darkness surrounded me and for a second, I had no idea where I was. In the sewers? Nah, it didn't smell like it and it wasn't damp or slimy enough to be. Topside, in the middle of the night? No, even then there would be some light outside. This was New York, after all- the city that never sleeps._

 _Then, suddenly, that voice started to call my name again. It was faint, barely above a whisper. I turned in every direction, trying to spot the one who spoke to me. But I couldn't see anything. Nothing but pure, black darkness._

 _"Mikey... I'm right here, where are you? Don't you remember me?" I turned around again, fingers on the nunchucks in my belt, and tried to search out where the voice came from._

 _"Hello? Who's there? Show yourself!" I drew my nunchucks, ready to fight off any threat that might come out of the shadows. The voice chuckled at me, amused by my reaction. Something in the laugh and the voice felt familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on how or why._

 _"Heh... You always were a little... how can I say this tactfully? Well, special, so to speak, Michelangelo. I guess I shouldn't be overly surprised, but I had thought that you would recognise my voice. Since you and I have always been so close all these years." Somebody stepped out of the shadows and my jaw hit the ground; my nunchucks fell out of my hands. The figure was tall, skinny, and had what looked like a shell on his back._

 _"Donnie...?" He smiled at me and his eyes practically sparkled, and as he came closer to me, the darkness around me started to fade away. I felt my fear and insecurities drain out of me; still, I was pretty unsure if what I saw was real and not just some sort of illusion, but I didn't listen to the voice in the back of my head that told me that this wasn't real. I just smiled so widely that my face would've split in two if it could, and I ran up to Donnie with my arms stretched out wide._

 _"Donnie!" I threw my arms around his neck, almost knocking him to the ground, and nuzzled my face into the crook of his neck, starting to cry. Donnie smiled back at me, just as widely, and hugged me tightly, lifting me off my feet and spinning me around as he was thrown off balance before putting me down on my feet again. And, for the first time since that fight with the Kraang, I felt whole again._

 _I nuzzled my face into Donnie's chest, tears falling down my cheeks, and I couldn't fight back the sobs. To be honest, I didn't WANT_ _to, either. My big brother was here, he was hugging me, laughing with me and he was talking to me. That was all that mattered right now. So, if I happened to be so happy that I was crying, I could live with that. I felt Donnie place one hand on the back of my head and press me closer to him, hugging me tighter with the other arm._

 _"It's okay, Mikey, I'm here now. I'll always be here." I choked on a sob and looked up at my big brother. His comforting brown eyes smiled down at me, and (I might be losing it right now) I could've sworn I could see a sort of glow around him, as if he was glowing or he was an angel or something. I choked back another sob and blinked away enough tears so that I could see him._

 _"Why did you have to leave us, Donnie? Why couldn't you stay with us? We need you! We love you and you're not with us! The lair isn't the same without you!" I heard Donnie sigh and his arms tightened around me as he gently leaned his cheek against my head._

 _"Some things just happen, Mikey. We can't always explain why it happens, nor can we control it; it just happens. Believe me, I would stay with you for all eternity if I could. But, sadly, the world doesn't work that way."_

 _"Donnie... please, come home." My voice cracked, but I didn't care. I looked up at my big brother and I knew that, because I was crying, I had my big puppy dog eyes out right now, whether I liked it or not. He smiled lightly at me, as if he was sad but trying to be strong for me, even though he had to say something hard._

 _"No, you know I can't do that, Mikey. I have to move on, just as much as you have to move on. You know this just as well as I do. It'll be better for the both of us if we do." I shook my head, buried my face into his chest again and squeezed more tears from my clenched eyes._

 _"No, you know I can't do that, Mikey. I have to move on, just as much as you have to move on. You know this just as well as I do. It'll be better for the both of us if we do." I shook my head, buried my face into his chest again and squeezed more tears from my clenched eyes._

 _"No, Donnie, please. Please, you can't leave us. We miss you too much! Please, Donnie, I don't want you to go away! I don't want to forget..." Donnie placed his hand on my cheek, his thumb under my chin, and forced me to look up at him and into his eyes. He smiled at me, but he also had tears that had started to form in his eyes, though he tried to blink them away and keep them from falling._

 _"I'll always be with you, Mikey. Even if you can't see me or hear me, I'll be there; in here." He placed his hand over my heart. "As long as you know that I'm in your heart, you'll never forget. I'll be watching over you and our family, always. I'll see how you guys will save the world, defeat evil and become the heroes I know you are." I smiled up at him, placed my hand over his on my face and reached up to his face so I could dry his eyes._

 _"You're the real hero, Donnie. You always put others before yourself. That makes you the true hero of the family. At least, in my eyes, you'll always be." He smiled back and used his thumb to dry my eyes and cheeks._

 _"Thank you, Mikey. And in my eyes, you'll always be my favorite little brother." I couldn't help but laugh and gently bumped my nose against his chest, like a cat._

 _"Yeah right, dude- I'm your ONLY little brother." He chuckled at me and nuzzled our faces against each other._

 _"All the more reason to think you're the best, right?" I gazed up at him and saw his gentle, comforting smile, and couldn't help but smile back at him. Then he looked over his shoulder, as if somebody was calling for him. He looked down for a second with a somber look in his eyes and sighed, then turned back to me and took my hands._

 _"I have to go now, Mikey." No- he couldn't! Not yet! I wasn't done yet! I hadn't finished saying goodbye! I flung my arms around his waist, determined to never let go, and cried into his chest. He wrapped his arms around me and nuzzled his face into the side of my head._

 _"No, please, Donnie! Not yet, you can't go yet! I'll miss you too much, Donnie! I can't live without you!" He chuckled without a trace of humor and gently pried my arms off of himself._

 _"Yes, you can. You'll have to, Mikey; you have to live your life all the way through. For my sake, if not for your own? I don't want any of my brothers to go before their time." He looked me in the eyes, took my face between his hands and kissed my forehead, nuzzling his cheek against my head and then smiling. The glow around him seemed to grow stronger. "Now, goodbye, Mikey. Be strong, be brave, and remember- I love you." He started to fade away, his voice fainter and fainter with each word. I reached out for him, but within seconds he was gone and I was alone in the darkness again._

 _"Donnie, no! Please, come back! Please don't leave me! I still need you! I still love you! Donnie! Can you hear me?! DONNIE!"_

"Donnie!" I flew up from my bed with a shriek and panted heavily as I frantically looked around in my room, trying to figure out where I was. I tried to spot my brother, but he was nowhere to be found. He was gone, _again_ , and I was all alone in my room. I felt the disappointment wash over me in a merciless wave and small tears started to form in my eyes. But this time, I wiped them away before I could start crying again. I had done a lot of crying lately; I didn't want to start again.

It hadn't been real. It was just a stupid dream! Figures that the best thing that'd happened to me in two weeks was just a dream. Still, it had been so great to see Donnie again- to hear his voice again. His words still rang in my head and I couldn't help but feel a little better knowing that he was still there, even though it had been in a dream and not in real life.

 _"Some things just happen, Mikey. We can't always explain why it happens, nor can we control it- it just happens."_

 _"I have to move on, just as much as you have to move on. You know this just as well as I do."_

 _"I'll always be with you, Mikey. Even if you can't see me or hear me, I'll be there, watching over you."_

 _"Be strong, be brave, and remember- I love you."_

I placed a hand to my forehead where Donnie had kissed me, and I could swear I could still feel his lips against my skin- could still feel his arms wrapped around me. 'I'll always be there,' He said. 'Remember- I love you,' He said. But what if I wouldn't remember? What if I, years from now, would look at the pictures of Donnie and think, 'Huh, I wonder who that is?' And I'll ask the others if they know, but they'll all say, 'Gee, I don't know. I can't seem to remember who that was. Maybe a friend we lost touch with? New York is so filled with mutants these days.'

That thought filled me with horror. The fact that Donnie, someday, would be long forgotten, and nobody would remember that he was our brother. All those memories we shared, the games we played, all the adventures we had been through, would, in the future, be nothing but memories that had faded away into non-existence. And we would only think of him as a distant friend we had lost contact with years ago. So much so that maybe we wouldn't even remember his name.

I shook my head and got up from my bed. I wouldn't let it happen. I would do everything I could to make sure that I would always remember him. I opened one of my drawers and looked through all of the stuff I had in there. I knew I had it in there, somewhere. I dug around in the drawer a bit more and found what I was looking for. A small, thin photo album, filled with pictures of my bros and me. I had gotten it from April a few weeks back. It had been Donnie's birthday and one of the things she had given him was a similar photo album, along with one for me, Leo and Raph. Something about four for the price of two. And so I hadn't filled it with so many pictures up until now. I looked through the few pages I had filled with pictures and then my eyes fell on the one. The perfect picture.

It hadn't been taken very long ago- maybe three months ago? It showed Donnie, who had been reading a book at the kitchen table, but had been interrupted by me hugging him around his chest from behind and resting my chin on his shoulder with a big smile. He had a big smile on his face, too, his book in one hand as he looked up at me. I noticed that this was one of the few times I didn't have to stand on my toes to be able to reach up to his shoulders. I usually had to do that since he was so friggin tall. I smiled at the picture and took it out of the album. I wanted to keep this photo close to me; to keep it on me at all times. Just so that Donnie would be close to me at all times, even when I wasn't actively thinking about him.

I put the album away and put the photo in the pocket of my belt. I would carry this photo around, always, no matter where I went. I would have it when we were in the lair, out on patrol or when we were just eating pizza. Just so I could carry him around, so that no matter where I went he would always be with me. I nodded to myself, walked back over to my bed, lie down on the mattress and went back to sleep.

* * *

(Raph's P.O.V)

"Do you think he's alright? I mean, he said that if he didn't show up at training, then he wanted us to drag him out of his room. Are you sure we should put him through that?" Mikey looked up from his plate of eggs and at Leo and me. I was poking at my own fried egg and bacon. I wasn't very hungry, so when Mikey spoke up, it gave me a chance to think of something other than the food in front of me. Leo looked up, too, and swallowed some of his eggs and bacon.

"What do you mean, Mikey? Why should we not train today?" Mikey shrugged and played a little with his eggs with his fork. He didn't look like he was trying to slip away from training, like he did sometimes when he pretended to be sick or injured. He looked genuinely concerned about something.

"Well, it's just that... Well, Splinter's been so sad and depressed the past two weeks, and has only now started to come out of his shell again. Maybe we should let him be sad for as long as he needs to be, and then start training again. I mean, it's not like he's gonna stop being sad now, just because we're gonna start training again." Leo sighed and put his fork down, placing his hand on Mikey's shoulder.

"None of us are gonna stop being sad, Mikey. This is something we're gonna be sad over for a very, very long time. And I doubt that it'll ever go away. But we need to try and move on, even if it's hard." I nodded.

"And the best way to do that is to try and get used to how life is going to be from now on by trying to live as we always have. Or, at least as close to normal as we can make it." I still refused to believe to that Donnie was dead, but I knew better than to keep talking about it every single day. I thought over what Mikey had told me yesterday- that I needed to think of the family I had left, and not just of the brother I had lost. So I had decided to hold onto my hope, but not try and force the others to hope as well by talking about it all the time. This was hard enough as it was without me making things worse by rubbing salt in their wounds.

Mikey reached down into his belt and took something out, something that looked like a photo or a piece of paper. I leaned over the table to try and get a look. It was a photo. A picture of Mikey hugging Donnie from behind, both of them with big smiles on their faces. I smiled at the picture and looked up at Mikey.

"That's nice picture, Mikey. But why are you carrying it around like that?" But Mikey didn't seem to hear me; he just shook his head and looked up at Leo with his puppy dog eyes. Small tears formed in his eyes and he immediately tried to wipe them away while trying to look as if he didn't care or like he didn't notice the tears.

"I don't want things to be as normal as possible! I don't want to try to live as we always have! I want Donnie to be here so that things will be just like they've always been! Trying to act like it's normal when it clearly isn't feels like we're trying to ignore him or trying to forget about him!" His voice cracked and he had a hard time keeping the sobs at bay. He looked Leo in the eyes. "I don't want him to be forgotten, Leo. I don't want to forget." He whispered, and he looked just like a kicked puppy.

I looked at the picture again. A few tears had fallen onto it and were now rolling down the smooth surface. That must be why he carried it around- so he could feel like he wouldn't forget about Donnie. Leo looked at him with pity and wrapped his arm around Mikey's shoulders, pulling him close to his side.

"Yeah, I know, Mikey. I know. None of us do. But I can tell you right now that I know he will never be forgotten." Mikey looked up from Leo's embrace, tears still there.

"How can you be so sure? How do you know that we'll never forget him?" Leo placed his hands on Mikey's shoulders, gently pushed him away from his chest, grabbed his chin and forced him to look him in the eyes.

"'Cause we're his brothers! We are his family! We all love him unconditionally- we always have! That's how I know that he'll never be forgotten." Mikey smiled lightly and wrapped his arms around Leo. I couldn't help but feel a little left out. I had tried to help the best I could, but Leo was so much better at these sorts of things than I was, so I couldn't offer much comfort. But still, I was here, too. And I wanted to help my brothers get through this as well. I sighed, stood up and left the room. I didn't even put away my plate or eat my food. I wasn't hungry, anyway.

I slumped down on the couch with a groan. Why did it have to be so hard? You know what? No, I'll take it back. Why did this happen in the first place? Oh, I'll tell you why: because Fate hated us! Life had been so tough and unfair to us ever since the day we were mutated. We were all mutants, not welcome in the human world or in the world above in general. And we fought bad guys on almost a daily basis. You would think that fate would be kind enough to cut us some slack every now and then. But oh, no- of course not. 'Fate is kind, and she'll see you through.' Yeah, right. You're not fooling anyone, Disney. Fate is a cruel witch, and everybody knows it! The five of us knew it especially. Oh, um, right. The _four_ of us knew it...

"My son." I was pulled from my thoughts to see Splinter standing at the entrance to the dojo. I looked up at him and stood.

"Yes, Sensei?" He descended the stairs and walked up to me. He seemed pretty concerned, but it also looked like he was trying to hold back his own emotions.

"Raphael, are you alright? You look rather pale. Have slept and eaten well today?" I nodded. I had slept pretty well last night, for the first time in quite some time, and had eaten about half of my omelet for breakfast. So I guess that counted, to some degree. Splinter didn't look convinced, though.

"Are you sure? Do you think you need to rest? I can postpone training for another day, if you'd like." I frowned at him. It was almost hard to believe Splinter had said that, since he would never say that any other day. I guess he didn't feel ready to train us, and was trying to get out of starting to train three of us instead of four in any way he could. I folded my arms over my chest and glared up at him.

"Sensei, you said that we were going to start training today! You _also_ said that if you tried to get out of it, we were allowed to force you into the dojo! You can't go back on your word!" Master Splinter looked at me strangely, then sighed and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"I know- I am sorry, Raphael. I guess we both still have some emotional baggage that we need to work through, don't we?" I nodded slowly and tried to smile. Splinter smiled back at me and then turned around and went back to the dojo. "Tell your brothers that training starts in ten minutes. I will get things ready." I nodded and went back to the kitchen and delivered the news to Leo and Mikey before I went to my room to get my sai.

Ten minutes later we were gathered in the dojo, kneeling in front of Master Splinter, who looked down on us with stern, yet distracted, eyes. He had his arms folded behind his back and I could tell that he was looking at the space beside Mikey, as if he expected Donnie to be sitting there, but was constantly disappointed and disheartened by doing so.

"Alright... my sons. Today we will focus on your form and repeat some katas to make sure that you haven't fallen behind so much that you've lost your... well, your 'touch', so to say." I shot a glance over at Leo and I could tell that he thought the same thing I did. Splinter was distracted and he clearly didn't feel ready to do this. But we both knew that he had to start getting back into the swing of things now- or he never would.

We all stood up, ready to practice our katas when Splinter gave the word, but he kept looking at us strangely. As if he kept counting how many we were, and kept coming to the same conclusion. He sighed heavily and looked down at the floor.

"...Hajime." Leo drew his swords and started slowly swinging them in a fluid manner, moving his feet in a similar motion. Fluidly putting one foot forward and then the other while trying to make the motions of the swords fluid as well. Mikey started to practice on his spinning back kick and the punch that came after the kick was finished. He stumbled a little and almost fell to the floor. I frowned. Usually Mikey could do this without any problems, but he was clearly distracted. I debated on whether I should help him, but decided he didn't need it. He could do this; he just needed to focus ever so slightly.

I decided to work on my katas since Leo was always on my case about my form being too sloppy. Maybe, if I trained on my form, I could get Leo off my back now that training was starting again. The last thing I needed right now was Leo being all over me about training. I focused on the movements, raised one arm to my forehead while the other moved to my side, and did the same thing with opposite arms doing the movement again. I gritted my teeth. Going so slowly was boring, but I knew I had to cope with it.

Splinter looked us over, but his eyes weren't focusing entirely on us. They had drifted off into space and he wasn't entirely focused. Any other time I might've been offended, but I could totally understand why he wasn't as attentive. He moved over to Leo and gently guided his arms and hands to show the right movements.

"Be sharper in your attacks, Leonardo. It's an attack, not a dance." He turned to Mikey, who had just fallen to the floor due to loss of balance. He helped him up and looked Mikey straight in the eyes.

"Don't be so quick in your movements, Michelangelo. You'll only lose balance. And please, focus more on what you're doing." He then turned to me. "Raphael, be more fluid in your movement. If you hit an enemy with a wrist that tight, you'll only hurt yourself." His corrections were pretty stern and curt, and while I could understand why he was acting this way, it wasn't an excuse for being rude or brief with us. He turned to look the other way.

"Donatello, keep your-" He was cut off as he realized he'd spoken to someone who wasn't there. And at this point, Leo couldn't be quiet anymore.

"Sensei, Donnie's not coming back anytime soon. But we're still here, and we need you right now." Mikey nodded and stopped trying to do his kick.

"Yeah, and though I totally understand why you're acting this way, I think you need to loosen up a little, Sensei. You're being pretty harsh right now." I nodded, pretty glad that both Leo and Mikey had called Splinter out before I could. I don't know why, but it felt good to not be the complainer for once. I opened my mouth to add to the talk, but Splinter interrupted me.

"I- I'm sorry, my sons. I... I guess I still need some time. Time we might not have. The Shredder and Kraang are not going to stop and wait for us to recover." Leo, Mikey and I shared a look. I had never seen Splinter like this, between a state of depression and suppressed emotions. Or something like that, anyway. He turned to us and waved at us.

"Please, my sons. I need some time to think. We will resume your training in a few hours. I need some time alone to think and meditate over what I have to do. Leave me, please." He sounded like he was on the verge of crying, and Leo reached out towards our father. But Splinter turned at him and I could see in his eyes that he wanted to be alone.

"Leonardo, please, leave me! I will be fine, but I need to be alone right now." We all nodded and left the room without saying a word. Leo walked over to the couch and just sat down, staring off into space, clearly distracted and a little crestfallen. Mikey went to his room and closed the door behind him. I sighed heavily. This wasn't exactly how I'd thought training was gonna be today.

* * *

 **A/N: Yeah... Not my best chapter. I've been doing a lot of re-writing and changes so the story wouldn't be so rushed, which is partly why this chapter took so long. Hopefully it's still good enough to read, and I really hope I will get better at writing about training sessions and fights, 'cause the ones I write are pretty bad, in my opinion.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**


	26. Chapter 25, A storm headed our way

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Hi, Shellheads! I'm so happy to give you a new chapter! So I figured that since Donnie never made those breathing apparatuses, (at least as far as we, as the audience, know) they couldn't go into dimension X, so this is essentially the closest thing to Into Dimension X as we're ever gonna get. Hopefully you won't get too mad about that.**

 **Okay, so in the season 2 finale it had started to snow, so it was either late fall or early winter. Now, I don't plan on doing that, since I plan on having the Invasion pretty soon, but I am planning on trying to have the turtles at the farmhouse for about three months, maybe four or five… maybe... I want them to at least be there until spring, so there may be a time jump here and there in the future, both in the city and in space. It's really hard to write time in stories like this, so next chapter may be a few weeks forward in New York, but the same time in space for Donnie and the others. Just so you know.**

 **Hope you enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

* * *

Chapter 25, There's a storm headed our way

"Hey, Red, are you okay? I mean, you've been pretty quiet tonight." I looked up from my trig book at Casey. He and I were at Murakami's place and sharing a meal of pizza gyoza while I was trying to help him with his trig homework. Unfortunately, I was having a hard time concentrating, and I didn't quite know why. I shrugged and took a sip of my soda.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little distracted, that's all." Casey -who usually was pretty immature and a little too arrogant and cocky for my taste, but had been pretty understanding these past few weeks- reached out over the table and placed his hand over mine.

"April, I know I haven't known you for as long as the guys have, but I know you well enough to know that something's bothering you. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to- I just want to know if you're okay." I sighed. There were times where Casey surprised me with how mature and, for lack of a better word, wise he could be. I closed the book in front of me.

"I don't know, Casey. It's just... I dunno, so much has happened, and I'm still running to catch up with everything. School, my friends, my feelings… Everything." Casey nodded understandingly and took a sip out of his own drink.

"Yeah, I get that. But if you think school's too rough right now, why don't you call in sick for a day or two? I mean, you're no slacker, and I'm sure your dad would understand. He knows how close you were to Donnie." I shook my head and brushed my bangs out of my face.

"No, he'll just say that I'm thinking too much of the guys and that I need to focus on school just as much as my training with Master Splinter and hanging out with the guys. I wouldn't be surprised if he'd forbid me from seeing the guys at all, since it brings so much danger to our lives. Like when he got mutated into a bat. I'm surprised he hasn't had a nervous breakdown yet." Casey nodded again, removed his hand from mine and took a bite of one of the gyozas.

"So there's nothing else on your mind? You seem more than just distracted. You don't have to tell me; I'm just a little worried. You haven't been yourself for quite some time now." I shrugged and started to play a little with my pen. He was right. I had been feeling a little extra down in the dumps the past few days. But it was stronger when I was with Casey, and I didn't understand why.

"I dunno. I just have this weird feeling. Like, maybe a bit like guilt, but at the same time, not. Something that tells me something is wrong or I shouldn't do something but I don't understand what. I- ugh, I can't explain it. I'm sorry, Casey, I guess I'm not entirely myself tonight." Casey shrugged and tried to smile at me.

"Well, we've been at this for about an hour and a half now. And you look a little tired. Maybe we should eat up and then go home? You look like you're ready to faint." I didn't really want to call it a day already, seeing how very little trig had been done. And I couldn't help but feel that Casey just wanted to slip away from the tutoring session, and wasn't really as tired as I was. But I also knew that we wouldn't get much else done even if we kept going, so I nodded and gathered up my things, putting them in my bag.

"Okay, let's go. I'll call Dad and tell him I'm coming home early." Casey nodded and swallowed the last of his gyoza before grabbing his own things. We said a quick thank you and goodbye to Mr. Murakami and left the restaurant. It was already starting to get dark, even though it was only the beginning of August and still summer. Only a month was left of summer- soon, autumn. I sighed. How long would it be until the pain in my heart would ease up? And could I even _hope_ it would eventually go away?

I had lied to Casey when I said I couldn't explain what I was feeling. At least, I had lied a little. Deep down in my heart I knew what I was feeling, and why I was feeling it. Guilt. And I also had an idea of why I felt guilt. Because of Donnie's crush on me. One would have to be blind, deaf and pretty brainless to not notice that Donnie had had feelings for me, and in a way, that made the whole thing worse. I mean, if he had been a bit subtler, or if I had been a bit more oblivious to his feelings, then maybe it wouldn't have been so hard to handle his feelings. But because I knew about his feelings, and had practically since Day 1, I couldn't bring myself to tell him that I didn't like him in the same way. It would be like kicking a puppy that was not only adorable in every way possible, but also trying every way it could to make me happy.

Sure, there had been times when Donnie's actions may have been a little questionable, like creating that flowchart, doing reckless things and putting himself in danger just to impress, but every time he had done something for me, it had always been genuine and with nothing but the purest of intentions. He may have said things like 'Princess' or ' _my_ April' a few times, but he had _never_ tried to force himself upon me. Even with that weird flowchart, every option was dependent on my answer, so he had always had my interest in mind. And, I couldn't deny it, that was pretty sweet of him. Which only made it harder, since I couldn't return his feelings. He deserved to have a girl to love, but sadly, that girl wasn't me. And now that Donnie was gone, and I was going out with Casey and ate good food while studying, it felt like I was betraying Donnie in a way. Or like he would look down on me from the Heavens and hate me for running to Casey when he knew that I knew that he had had feelings for me.

Okay, so Casey and I weren't exactly 'dating'- more like going out to see a movie together or going to eat a pizza -most of the time with Irma- or just studying together, like tonight. Never something that went outside the territory of being 'friends', and that's how I liked it. Though, to be honest, I've started to develop new feelings for Casey. What they meant, I didn't know yet, but I didn't really care at the moment. Those feelings weren't important right now. The Kraang and Shredder were still out there, most likely going to try and kill the rest of us, and we needed to focus on that before I could focus entirely on my feelings for a guy. Even if that guy was my friend.

Suddenly, Casey grabbed my arm and pulled me up the stairs, hiding in the doorway to an apartment. He looked at me, placed his finger over his lips and then pointed out to the alley, about ten feet down the street. A white van was parked there, one I recognised immediately. It was one of the Kraang's vans. But what were they doing now? Transporting some tech to TCRI? Or maybe hatching a new plan to take over New York?

"Kraang must restrain the mutant life form known as Leatherhead so that the mutant known as Leatherhead will not escape." Leatherhead? Why did that name ring a bell? I knew I had heard that from somewhere before. I bit my lip and thought as hard as I could, trying to remember. Then I gasped as the memory hit me. Leatherhead- right, that was Mikey's friend. He had escaped from the Kraang and stolen their powercell so that their portal wouldn't work. And when they had stolen it back, Leatherhead had sacrificed himself by going back to Dimension X to keep more monsters from coming to Earth. But why had the Kraang brought him back to Earth?

Leatherhead struggled to get away as much as he could, but he was constantly tazed by the Kraang each time he tried. Casey and I looked up at each other, then back at the Kraang and the poor mutant. Casey lightly tapped me on the shoulder, then asked with his eyes if we should interfere. I shook my head. We didn't have our weapons, and there were about twenty Kraang-droids there, just to keep Leatherhead from escaping. And then there were ten others that seemed to lead the way and give orders. We wouldn't be able to fight them off and save Leatherhead on our own.

"Kraang orders the one known as 'Leatherhead' to cease that which is known as struggling. It is that which is known as pointless." Another Kraang-droid stuck his electronic rod into Leatherhead's side, causing Leatherhead to roar in pain and anger and swipe at the robot.

"Argh! Never!" He roared; that only got him another jolt of electricity coursing through his body as pink-purplish lightning surrounded him. He roared again in pain and was then pushed through the door at the back of the van, despite all of his attempts to get away. The Kraang shut the doors after him and then jumped into the van.

"Kraang will transport the one known as Leatherhead to TCRI, where Kraang will do that which is known as interrogate for information about the ones known as the turtles who are turtles." After all the Kraang bots had climbed into the van, it backed out of the alley and drove off down the street towards TCRI. Casey and I snuck down from the doorway and stared down the street after the van.

"What kind of mutant was _that_? A new Kraang-mutant or something?" Casey was more shocked than I was, and that was understandable. He had never seen Leatherhead before, and even for me, who had seen him once, he was pretty intimidating. I shook my head and gazed up at him.

"No, that was Leatherhead. The guys saved him from the Kraang last year, but he only really made friends with Mikey at the time, since he had a really short temper and was easily angered. Kinda like the Hulk, in a way." He nodded in understanding, and I kept going. "When the guys learned about the Kraang portal, they tried to destroy it, but failed. The only way to stop more monsters from coming to Earth was for Leatherhead to sacrifice himself and go back to Dimension X. We haven't heard from him since." I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed Leo's number.

"What are you doing?" Casey asked and looked over my shoulder, trying to see. I placed the phone against my ear as the dial tone started to ring.

"I'm calling Leo to tell him about this. I know Mikey'll want to know that Leatherhead is back on Earth, but he's also their friend. I bet they'll want to save him." I barely had time to say all that before the tone stopped and Leo answered.

"Hi, April. Uh, is this important? We're kinda in the middle of training right now." I snapped my focus back to my phone and had to restrain myself from yelling into the phone.

"Leo! Casey and I just saw the Kraang out in the city, and they had Leatherhead with them! They're driving towards TCRI right now!"

* * *

(Leo's P.O.V)

"Come on, guys, let's move! Leatherhead needs us!" Mikey was standing on the other side of the turnstiles, impatiently waiting for me and Raph to join him. I looked over at Raph, who was walking from the dojo and placing his sai in his belt. Both he and I were hesitant to go on this mission, and I knew Mikey was, too, deep down. This was our first real patrol in more than two weeks, and to go out on patrol with only the three of us just felt wrong in every way. It had always felt a little off when we went on patrol and had one of us stay at the lair, even if there was a logical reason why, like the flu, a broken leg or something. But Mikey also wanted to save his friend, and that was what drove him tonight.

Maybe I should explain a little bit of what I'm talking about. Ever since Donnie had... well, left us, April and Casey had tried to be on the lookout for the Foot and the Kraang while we took some time to recover from our loss. April had said that they were having a pretty hard time recovering like we did, but that they wanted to help in every way they could. These past few days had been pretty eventless, or at least April and Casey had said so. Then April had called us tonight, saying something about seeing Leatherhead being transported in one of the Kraang's vans after she and Casey had studied at Murakami's place, so that was tonight's mission. Mikey had demanded that we had to go and save Leatherhead- even though we were in the middle of the second training session for the day- since the last time we had seen him was the first time we had entered TCRI and he had sacrificed himself to make sure the Kraang couldn't bring any more things here from Dimension X.

"Are we sure that we're all up for this? I mean, I'm all for patrolling and fighting bad guys, but something like this, on our first patrol in days? Maybe we should start with something that doesn't have to do with the Kraang. I'm just saying." Raph looked bored and like he had very little interest in what he was talking about, but I knew Raph well enough to know that this move was too big for him, and was happening way too early. Raph had always had the hardest time adapting to new situations, so I could understand how this was hard for him. Okay, Donnie had also had a hard time adapting, but he did try his best to attempt adapting to his surroundings. In his own way, sure, but still.t he did try his best to try and adapt to his surroundings. In his own way, sure, bit still.

Mikey shook his head fiercely and glared at Raph. His patience (if he had had any to begin with) was wearing thin, and I almost expected him to start dragging us to TCRI.

"No way, dude! Leatherhead may not have that time! I'm not waiting around for you! If you're not coming with me, then I'm going by myself!" I sighed. I could understand both of my brothers. This was a big move on Raph's part, and he saw a mission at TCRI as too big of a mission to do without Donnie, coming much too early. And Mikey didn't want to lose anyone else that he cared about. Me? I was torn and I really had no idea what to do. I wanted to help my friend, but this was too sudden and came on a very short notice. I knew what I had to do, but I also knew that it would be really hard for all of us. So I took a deep breath and walked up the stairs to the turnstiles.

"Come on, guys, let's move!" We all jumped over the turnstiles, but before we could leave, Master Splinter came out of the dojo.

"Hold on, my sons." We all stopped, and Mikey was practically ready to explode from his eagerness and impatience. "I understand that this is a big step for you to take at the time being, but I also understand that you wish to aid your ally. All I ask of you is to keep an eye on each other at all times. I do _not_ wish to lose another child." We all shared a look, and even Mikey seemed to calm down enough to take his words to heart. I tried to smile reassuringly at him.

"You won't, Sensei. I promise, we'll stick together and keep an eye on each other. No one is going to be taken down by the Kraang this time." Splinter sighed heavily, then nodded with a look in his eyes that clearly showed that he didn't want to do this.

"Well then, go. Save your friend, but be careful, my sons." We all nodded and left the lair. We ran into the Shellraiser and took our seats at our stations. It had been a while since I had been sitting behind the wheel, so for a second, I didn't remember what to do. Thankfully it only took seconds for me to remember. Raph and Mikey didn't seem to have any problems with getting back into their positions, but I could tell that they were a little jittery in their seats. But maybe that was because this was our first mission in a while, and Mikey wanted to get to TCRI as quickly as possible to save our friend.

Hm… I couldn't help but wonder how Donnie would react if he heard that we had to save Leatherhead, since they had had a rather rocky friendship. He'd probably do it, but mostly because he was Mikey's friend and wanted to please our younger brother. But I quickly realized that I was thinking of Donnie, and instead opted to focus on where I was driving.

"Okay, what's the plan, Fearless?" Raph asked, and I could hear in his voice that he was trying to sound as casual as possible.

"We break in through the windows, stick to the shadows, let Donnie hack the-" I stopped myself and looked over my shoulder, at the station where Donnie usually sat with his computers. It was so strange to see it empty. Mikey and Raph looked a little sad, too, but I tried to shake myself out of how I felt and think of the mission instead.

"Right... Uh, second plan! We sneak in, stick to the shadows and search the prison cells for him- if we don't find him there, we'll eavesdrop on the Kraang to get any info out them." The others nodded to show that they understood, but didn't say anything.

"Note to self: try to _not_ mention Donnie during the mission at all. It's hard enough for us as it is right now, anyway." I murmured to myself and my grip on the wheel tightened ever so slightly.

After we parked the Shellraiser in the alley closest to TCRI, we all made our way to the rooftops and looked over the building from the closest one. Mikey seemed ready to jump into action and dropped into a running stance, but fortunately Raph managed to grab his shoulder before he could get far.

"Whoa, hold on, Mikey! I can't believe I'm saying this, but we can't just run straight into battle like this." Mikey glared up at him, yanked away from Raph's grip and looked a little frantic.

"What? Why not? Leatherhead's in trouble! They might be torturing him right now! We can't just sit here and do nothing!" I shook my head and placed my hand on his shoulder, looking straight into his eyes.

"Of course not, Mikey. But we don't even know where he is right now, and running straight in without a plan is not the best strategy. Now, follow my lead." I took out my grappling hook, aimed at a window on the top third of the building, and fired away. It hit just above a window- not the best place for three turtles to climb across and into a building, but it would have to do. I drew my sword, placed the flat side against the rope, and started to slide across the gap in between the two buildings. I heard (and saw in the reflection of the window) Raph and Mikey following behind me, and thankfully I didn't see any Kraang through the window.

After we had climbed in through the window and come to the conclusion that there was no Kraang presence in the room at the moment, we started to make our way down the hallway, sticking to the shadows and being as quiet as possible. Just as I started to think of which way would be the best to go, we started to hear the sound of buzzing electricity; it sounded like somebody was being tortured through electric shocks, if the roars of pain gave any indication. Mikey tensed up immediately and started to run down the hallway, not caring about stealth or caution anymore.

"Leatherhead!" He didn't get far before Raph and I caught up to him. Raph clamped a hand over his mouth and stopped him from running while I shushed him as loudly as I dared.

"Mikey! What did I just say out there? You can't just run recklessly into danger without knowing what you're gonna face! Do I seriously need to tie you to Raph and tape your mouth shut?" Mikey looked a little taken aback by my harsh words, and I admit that I sounded harsher than I meant to, but he needed to understand this.

"I-I'm sorry. But Leatherhead _needs_ us! I don't want him to get hurt!" I sighed and rubbed my hand over my face. Raph let go of him and grabbed his shoulders.

"Yeah, we know, Mikey. And I understand why you want to save him; really, I do. But we can't be reckless right now. This is our first mission in a few weeks and we need to go slowly and carefully. Don't you remember how we promised Sensei to stick together and keep an eye on each other?" Mikey nodded slowly and looked down at the floor. I patted his shoulder and tried to smile at him.

"Then try to be more quiet this time- and stick with us. Now, come on; it came from this direction!" We started to run down the corridor, the roars of pain and humming sounds getting louder and louder the closer we came. We soon came to a corridor with cell doors on each side. From inside one of the doors came a purple and pink light out of the small window, indicating that Leatherhead was in there with the Kraang. We sneaked up to the door to hear what was going on inside.

"The one who is known as Leatherhead has sabotiged Kraang's plans for the time which is known as the last." I narrowed my eyes in confusion. Sabotiged? I looked at the others and they seemed just as confused as I was. Then, a new Kraang spoke.

"Kraang believes it's 'sabotage'." I couldn't help but snicker. That was such a Donnie-thing to do: correct somebody on such an unimportant little detail. But that was one of the nicer little quirks about him, if not an annoying one as well. Just as I thought that, I felt a small wave of sadness wash over me and I realized again how off it felt to be on a mission without him. But yet another Kraang voice spoke and that snapped me out of my thoughts.

"And no longer will he be an irritant to our dorsal regions." Mikey sniggered a little the Kraang's version of 'pain in our butt', and both Raph and I couldn't help but find it a tad bit amusing as well. Then we could hear Leatherhead's voice, as well.

"Ugh… I believe the phrase you're looking for is 'pain in your-'" He was interrupted with a loud humming and roared again. Mikey immediately grabbed his weapons, and Raph and I grabbed ours as well.

"We'll handle the Kraang. Donnie, you open the-" I cut myself off again as I realized, again, that Donnie wasn't here. We were thrown off balance as we realized that, and for a second, no one did anything. Then, Raph shook his head, stomped up to the lock and stabbed it with his sai until the doors opened. The Kraang-droids that were in there looked up in surprise, and before any one of them could do anything, Raph and I had either sliced their robot bodies apart or stabbed them in the head. Mikey ran up to Leatherhead, who was handcuffed with a big purple device that also had his head captured.

"Leatherhead! Buddy, I've missed you so much! Are you okay? Are you hurt? Do you need-?" Raph, once again, placed his hand over Mikey's mouth and stopped him from talking.

"Whoa, slow down, Mikey. Let the guy breathe a little." Leatherhead groaned and tried to stand up, but the handcuffs made it hard for him to do so. I grabbed my katana and sliced through the restraints and they immediately disappeared. Then he could stand up properly.

"Thank you, my friends." We all smiled at him. I eyed him up and down and saw that he was greyer than he had been when we had seen him last. Mikey also noticed.

"What happened to you, Leatherhead? Did you quit moisturizing or something? You look, like, a _ton_ older." Leatherhead opened his mouth to answer, but then an alarm started to sound off throughout the building and purple lights started to flash in the corridor.

"Oh no, we've been discovered!" I looked out in the corridor and saw Kraang bots running in with weapons raised. But before I could give any orders, Leatherhead ran out of the cell with a roar and started to attack the Kraang-bots, ripping them apart with his jaws and tearing them apart by himself. We grabbed our own weapons to join the fight, but when we ran out of the cell, he had already finished off the Kraang-bots. He turned to us.

"We must get out of here. I have terrible news to give you, but it cannot be told here. Too dangerous." We nodded and started sprinting down the corridor. But while I had been in the lead when we started, Leatherhead quickly caught up to me, and then he started to lead us through the building. After Leatherhead had smashed his way through a few doors, torn the Kraang-bots apart, and smashed his way through a wall, we ran down the street with Kraang-bots shooting after us. Raph ran up to the Shellraiser and opened the doors, and we all jumped inside and drove off down the street.

Leatherhead gazed around the subway car and then turned to us. It was a bit cramped for him, but he managed pretty well between Raph's and my station.

"Is this my old home?" We all looked at each other. None of us had really shown the Shellraiser to Leatherhead, or told him about it. And it _had_ , technically, been his, so this was a little bit awkward.

"Well, yeah, it is. Donnie rebuilt it into the Shellraiser so that we could have our own mode of transportation. I hope you don't mind." Mikey said shyly and rubbed the back of his head. But Leatherhead just shook his head and looked around the car.

"It is very impressive. But I must ask: where is your brother?" We all looked at each other with downcast eyes before either looking down at the floor or closing our eyes in pain. Raph sighed heavily and stared straight into a wall.

"He... got sucked through Kraang portal a few weeks back. Haven't heard from him at all in almost three weeks now." He suddenly looked hopeful and turned to Leatherhead. "You didn't see him in Dimension X, did you?" He sounded eager, but I still didn't want to believe that Donnie was still alive. It just made my heart hurt even more. But I couldn't help but hope that he might be there and be alive. Leatherhead shook his head apologetically.

"I am afraid not, Raphael. I am sorry." Raph's look went from hopeful to disappointment so quickly that it literary hurt to see his face. The Shellraiser got uncomfortably quiet for a few minutes, and then I remembered what Leatherhead had said and used it to change the subject.

"Hey, Leatherhead? You said something about terrible news- what was that?" Leatherhead gasped, as if he just remembered something important, and started to talk.

"My friends, the Kraang have perfected the mutagen. If I remember correctly, they will be ready to invade in only a few weeks." I stepped on the brakes and the vehicle stopped short in the middle of the street. The others fell out of their seats and slammed into the walls because of how unexpected it was.

"What...?" That was all I could say. I couldn't get anything else out of my mouth at that moment. Leatherhead looked up at me and tried to calm me down.

"I destroyed as much of their technology as I could, and tried to destroy as much mutagen as I could, as well. The time it will take for them to repair it all can take up to several months, which will give us weeks to prepare ourselves for the attack. But yes, it will happen very soon." I couldn't breathe- this was too much to take in all at once. But I needed to drive back to the lair now.

"Leo? You okay, bro?" Mikey asked carefully. I took a deep breath. I had to pull myself together. No time for being slow and not acting.

"We need to tell the others and Master Splinter about this immediately. We need to come up with a plan to prevent the invasion as much as possible." I started to drive again, and once again the car was awkwardly silent. But this was another kind of awkward. A kind where everybody was afraid that, if they spoke, they would make things worse. I took a deep breath.

What a _wonderful_ way for our first patrol to go.

* * *

 **A/N: Okay, so it's exactly like Into Dimension X, but still! It counts as a replacement for me! I made some small changes here and there and I also changed the time before the invasion to a few weeks instead of a few days, since I need some more things to be established in the next chapter, which will be a few days after this chapter happened.**

 **I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	27. Chapter 26, A Stab in the Back

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Hello, I'm late, but I'm back with a new chapter! And I am finally able to write a bit with Donnie and friends in this chapter! Yay, it's been, like, three chapters since I could do that!**

 **And, as for how I'm writing Karai in this chapter, honestly I really don't like her all that much anymore, or at least not as much as I did in season 1 and part of season 2. So I decided to not to have her find out the truth, not mutate her and have her play a central part in the story (for now anyway) and have her not want to listen Leo. And I felt like this was the best thing I could do to have it established. And I also think that considering everything that's happened so far, I didn't think Leo would be as enthusiastic to let her know the truth.**

 **Hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

* * *

Chapter 26: A Stab in the Back from the Foot

The bright white metal that made up the ship's walls and floors blinded me for a moment as I woke up in my bedroom, yawning and stretching my arms and back to wake up my muscles. I didn't know what time it was, seeing as there were no clocks onboard, but after being used to waking up at 6AM every day of my entire life, I was able to use my internal clock to estimate- and it felt as though it was still pretty early, so I assumed that everybody else was still asleep. I sat up, rubbed my hands over my eyes and yawned again.

"Oh, jeez; I don't think I've had such a good night's rest since I was a kid. If ever, that is." I mumbled to myself and sloppily tied my mask over my face before slowly getting out of bed and stretching my limbs and torso to wake up entirely. I placed my hand against my forehead to try and check my temperature, and even though I couldn't tell if the fever was gone, I still felt better than I had two days ago. In fact, I felt so much better than I had yesterday or that day we escaped prison. It was only then that I realized that I had fallen asleep in my space suit last night. And even though it was made of a comfortable and flexible fabric, it had started to make me feel stiff and uncomfortable. I slowly unzipped the suit and started to take it off and fold it neatly before placing it on my bed. I turned around to walk out the door when I saw my old gear, folded neatly on the dresser, a small note on top of them.

 _Fixed and washed your stuff for it might be a good thank you. - Mona Lisa._

It was a very short message and I could practically hear Mona's cynical and disinterested voice as I read her words. She must've found the gear and sewn it back together where it was needed, fixing the slightly torn leather. It was also washed and if I hadn't known that I had been wearing it during my incarceration in the fiercest prison I'd ever seen, I wouldn't have been able to tell.

I sat down on the bed and put on my knee pads and elbow pads, then wrapped my feet and wrists with the wraps that were, surprisingly enough, still intact and not too tattered as they should be after days of being in a Triceraton prison. After I was done with that, I left my provisional bedroom and strolled down the hallway, towards the Food Replicator and the holographic training room.

I entered and noticed that the room was empty, making the rather easy deduction that no one else was awake yet and that I would be alone for a while until the next person woke up. That never happened at home- there was always somebody awake and in every room, either watching TV in the pit, eating something in the kitchen or training in the dojo. It was pretty hard to get any privacy in a family of five, and I couldn't always do what I wanted. Partly because the others also wanted to, for example, watch TV, and it would usually end in a fight over who would get to watch what he wanted, and partly because I had a problem saying what I wanted, and that usually led to the others walking all over me and doing what they wanted anyway. Now I could do whatever I wanted until the others woke up and nobody would say anything about it. The walls were made out of solid metal so thick that they were soundproof, meaning I wouldn't have to worry about being too loud.

"Hmm… If I'm going to wake up at this hour every day I'm here, and the others are gonna sleep in, then I'm really gonna enjoy these mornings." I usually tried not to talk loudly to myself, since at home it usually ended up in me getting teased by the others for being weird, but now I decided to do it; simply because I could.

I walked out of the room and came into the control room, where everything was controlled, calculated and decided. The weapons, the direction we were going in, the info that we needed... All in here. I sighed and shook my head in amazement. I had been onboard for less than three days, but my head was still rushing to take in all this new tech, this new world and the new allies I had made.

I approached the main computers to check how far we were from our goal for now; the wormhole that would take us to Filione. We were going pretty fast now, and I hoped we weren't wasting fuel by doing so. But, who knows, maybe the people on Filione would help us with what we needed and could give us food, fuel and other things we might need. Or they might be as self-preserved and cautious as Mona Lisa and wouldn't want to help us in the slightest.

"Okay, so we're about 3245 gazilacrons away from that wormhole. One gazilacron is about 1700 microseconds, so if I convert that to Earth hours, it would mean... we'd get there about two days from now if we consistently maintain this speed. Okay, that's good. I just hope the Triceratons and the Federation don't know about the wormhole, or we'd be in deep trouble." I stood and went to the other door at the other side of the control room to go and take a shower and then clean and change the bandage on my wound. It had started to close and heal itself pretty well, but it was still there and still hurt a bit. I had also figured that it was going to leave a bit of a scar, since it hadn't been treated as well as it should have the day that I got it.

After my shower I felt that I was getting hungry and went to what I am from now on going to call the dining and entertainment room, to get some breakfast from the Food Replicator. Out of instinct I was going to go for cereal with a glass of orange juice, but then it hit me. I could ask for whatever I wanted, no limits at all. No Mikey was here to try and create some new strange and disgusting food, making me have to settle for the cereal every morning. And no brothers here to hog all the good stuff before I could have some. Anything I wanted, exactly how I wanted it. So I started to think it over. What did I want to eat? After a few minutes of thinking I settled for pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream and a glass of milk.

Pancakes and waffles were rare meals back home, since Master Splinter always wanted us to eat nutritious food as often as possible. Especially for breakfast, considering how much pizza we ate for lunch and dinner. That usually meant eggs, cereal, toast, milk and orange juice. And whenever April was kind enough to buy us some batter, or at least the ingredients for some, Mikey either hogged it to make some new and quote-unquote 'better' pancakes with it- such as a pizza made out of pancakes- which usually ended up tasting horrible, or, when we _did_ have normal pancakes, a fight would break out over who would get the most of the delicious rarities. The scuffles almost always resulted in me getting one or two pancakes, if I was lucky, and I had always been too timid to say anything about it.

I sat down on the couch and started to eat, thinking over the last month. So far, everything had gone at rapid speed and I constantly had to adapt to new surroundings, new creatures, new allies, new _everything_. But now that I was aboard a ship with friendly aliens (save for one girl- I had no idea what her problem was) and everything had started to slow down to a more even pace, I had gotten more time to take it all in and swallow it, piece by piece. And, as weird as it is for me to say, I had gotten more or less used to being in space. I had come to the conclusion that this was where I was gonna spend the next few months, whether I liked it or not, and I had pretty much accepted it. And I had also started to accept my new mission: to save Earth from being sucked into a black hole, and to save millions upon millions of people from being destroyed.

Also, every time I had time to think over my mission and how it was essentially to save an entire planet and all the millions of people on it, I realized just how big it really was. And a small part of me- the smug, cocky braggart side of me- couldn't help but feel a bit complacent about it. That this was _my_ mission, not me and my family's mission. Only _mine_.

I had thought it over almost every day now since I came on board the ship, and, as much I wanted to try and be serious and humble about it, I couldn't help but feel a bit smug about it. Out of all the creatures on my planet, Fate- or Destiny or whatever- had chosen _me_ to save the planet from the Triceratons, and save the people of Earth from dying. It could've been all of my brothers and I, but it was only me. For whatever reason, I had been pulled into this mess and I was now on a mission to save the Earth from destruction- and only me. Well, okay, I had friends who were willing to help me, but still. It could've been all of my family and friends, but it was only me. And, I had to admit, that felt pretty good.

Still... I couldn't help but wish that my brothers were here. Even though I had friends around me, I still felt lonely and like I had no one to talk to about what had happened. At least, no one who would understand. But then again, it's not like I've ever had somebody to talk to who fully understood me. Everybody always assumed that, just because I was smart and sometimes used big words, I always talked like that; or they thought my problems always involved science, math or something else that they wouldn't understand, so they never bothered to try and listen. And that meant I couldn't really talk to anyone besides Splinter (sometimes) and that ultimately led to me dealing with my problems alone. That, or talking to April (who I couldn't always talk about my problems with, for obvious reasons) or with a frozen Timothy. Sufficient to say, I had felt pretty lonely for a big part of my life, even when I had my brothers there with me. And my father.

How were they coping without me? Had they moved on? Were they trying to forget about me, and just act like I had never existed? Did they... Did they miss me, at all? Or were they relieved I was gone? I mean, they had treated me like a doormat for years, so now that I was gone, was there really any difference from when I was there with them?

I shook my head and felt tempted to splash the milk in my face to stop myself from thinking like that. No. _No_ , I couldn't think that way- of course my family missed me as much as I missed them. They probably thought I was dead; of course they'd be heartbroken and grief-stricken over that. We'd been living together as brothers for almost sixteen years, and we'd always taken care of each other and protected each other from harm, so it only made sense that they would miss me after my death- or disappearance, I should say. They loved me and they cared for me; they always had. I was sure that they still did- they couldn't be that coldhearted and uncaring about me. They had been there for me before, plenty of times, back when we were kids and up until present time. And they had each shown it in their own ways. So it wasn't like they hated me by any means. Far from it, actually, now that I thought about it.

Once, when we were about ten years old, I had been sick with the flu and it had gotten pretty bad. Okay, not to a point where anyone thought I would die or anything (save maybe Mikey), but still pretty bad as far fever and stomach bugs go. And Leo had been there the whole time, sitting beside me on my bed, ready to take care of me in every way he could, either by getting me water, feeding me soup, or giving me a tissue to blow my nose with… Or to just sit there and hold my hand or pat me on the back when I had to throw up or when I had a coughing fit and almost coughed up my lungs, even when I said that he didn't have to and he could go and do something else. He had just said that it was his job as the oldest brother to take care of me, Raph and Mikey when we needed it, and that he didn't mind doing it one bit.

One time, when we were thirteen and we got our skateboards, I had fallen and sprained my foot when Raph dared me to try an advanced move and I failed miserably. And the entire time when my foot was in a cast, Raph had let me lean on his shoulder as he helped me walk across whatever room I was attempting to navigate, even though Splinter had given me a crutch that would help me better than my bo staff would. When I asked Raph why he insisted on helping me, he had said it was because Splinter had told him to, but I had seen the guilt in his eyes and, well, I'm not stupid- I can put two and two together. He did it because he felt responsible for my injury, but I was smart enough to know that it wouldn't be a good idea to say that out loud, so I had chosen to let it go at the time. I had only said a simple 'thank you', and even though he shrugged it off like I hadn't said anything, he had still smiled and given me a noogie, which, at the time, was the closest thing Raph would come to a show of affection.

And once, when we were five, an hour after Raph had teased me about how bad I was at ninjutsu and said that he didn't understand why Splinter had kept me since I was so useless and that no one cared for me after a training session, Mikey had come into my room about and given me a picture of the two of us that he had drawn for me. It sort of looked like a get-well-soon card, only instead Mikey had written 'I kare 4 u' over the two turtles in the drawing. And I had been so touched and happy about the gesture that I hadn't bothered to correct him on his spelling. I had just hugged him and we sat down and played with Mikey's action figures in the living room until Sensei called us into the kitchen for lunch.

All of these gestures were relatively small, nothing to get too excited over, but they were still enough to show that my brothers cared about me. In fact, Mikey flat out said it with his little drawing, and those actions were enough to show me that even though they teased and ridiculed me at times, they still loved me. In fact, if I remembered correctly, I still had that picture in one of my desk drawers in my lab.

And even during the more recent days, even with how badly they had treated me, they still had found time to show that they still loved me. If they didn't, Raph wouldn't have ditched Slash like he did to go and look for me and the take care of my sprained arm after he had found me. Mikey wouldn't have spent so much time in my lab while I worked on the retromutagen or on some invention just to keep me company; that had given me someone to talk to, even though he did try to avoid my 'techno-babble' as much he could. And Leo wouldn't have come into my lab to check on me after our fight with Timothy, and then stayed there for an hour and a half, just letting me cry on his shoulder, helping me get to bed afterwards.

I sighed and looked down at my plate. There were still two pancakes left, but I suddenly didn't feel that hungry anymore. I took the plate and carried it over to the Food Replicator, pouring it back down into the machine so it could break it back down into molecules and energy and be used to make new food later. Then I poured the remaining milk in my glass as well. Training with Traximus would start soon, and I should probably get myself ready for it.

* * *

(Leo's P.O.V)

I was sitting on a rooftop and looking out over the city as the moon lit my view, watching the few people that were out on their way home or someplace else. We had been on patrol every day for about two weeks now. It was a bit easier than the first time we had gone on patrol. We had gone out each night to keep an eye on the invasion that Leatherhead had said could be coming any day now. Raph and Mikey had already gone home since nothing of interest had occurred during patrol. But I couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen tonight. And besides, it still felt weird to be on patrol without Donnie, even if we had done it for a few weeks.

Our first mission hadn't really been too hard; it was actually pretty easy. All we'd had to do was break in, destroy the lock and then sneak back out again. And when I say 'sneak', I mean 'let Leatherhead lead the way, bash Kraang-bots and then break out of TCRI again'. But it still felt weird to go on a mission without Donnie, and even though I had learned how to pick a Kraang lock long ago, it still felt weird to do it myself rather than let Donnie do the stuff he was good at.

And here I was, all alone out in the big city, trying to wrap my head around being out on patrol again and getting back into training. Splinter had tried to train us again, but his head was clearly someplace else. He had practically let us spar the entire time, and every now and then he'd let us practice certain katas; but I guess that was better than nothing. And I had to admit that it felt good to train and be outside of the lair again. It felt great to get some fresh air and run around and jump from rooftop to rooftop again. But it still was painfully obvious that something was still missing. A crucial part; a part that could never be replaced.

"Donnie, why did you have to leave so soon? We need you so much right now. How can I lead our family to safety when there's an inevitable invasion coming up any day now, and without you there to help me? You would know what to do." I chuckled to myself. "Heh, I bet you would've come up with some cool invention to take down the Kraang. Something as useful as it was awesome. You always did combine the two so well." My smile faded away and I looked down at the ground, feeling an all-too-familiar heat rising behind my eyelids.

"Of course... chances are that if you had, I wouldn't have listened. Like I never have before." I wiped my hands across my eyes, wiping away any unwelcome tears and trying to collect myself by taking deep breaths.

"Well, sure didn't think that I'd see you out here tonight." I looked up from the street and saw Karai there, on top of a billboard with her usual cocky smirk. She looked at me as if I was a mouse and she was a cat, wanting to play with her food before eating it. I jumped up from my seat and Karai jumped down from the billboard- she landed in a crouching pose in front of me with her sword in her hand.

"Karai, I don't know what you're doing here or what you want from me, but trust me, I am _really_ not in the mood for a fight. Leave now, or I swear you'll regret it." She smiled cockily at me, somewhat amused by my words, but I could still see that she was angry with me for some reason. She gripped the sword a little tighter in her hands, but dropped the fighting pose and walked up to me, still with her cocky smirk and her snake-like body movement.

"Heh, somebody doesn't want to play? That's too bad- I was _so_ looking forward a good fight. Oh well, I guess I'll settle for the latter." She swung the sword at me. I drew one of my own katanas, blocking her attack at the last second. I know I usually wanted to help Karai know the truth about herself, but today, the only thing running through my mind was _WHY CAN'T THIS GIRL EVER LEARN TO TAKE A HINT_?

"Karai, I'm serious! Leave me alone! I really don't want to fight right now!" I pushed my sword against hers and pushed her away from me, making her stumble backwards and almost drop her weapon. But she nimbly regained her footing and swung at me again.

"I saw you earlier tonight. Just three of you. What happened to the fourth one? You know, that scrawny, weak and useless geek you call a brother?" I dodged her attack, her words making the blood boil in my veins. I had heard Raph and Mikey say it before, and there had been times when we would all look at Donnie as an inferior ninja- mostly due to him liking to be in his lab rather than training in the dojo. But now, hearing our words coming from somebody else's mouth… well, it just made my temper flare up like gasoline on a fire. And I refused to just stand there and listen to Karai as she insulted my dead brother. Without a second thought, I punched her directly in the face with my free hand, leaving a big bruise on her cheek. She spat out some blood as well.

"Don't you _dare_ call him weak or useless! Never, _ever_ again! And what's happened to him is none of your concern! Now leave me alone, Karai!" She coughed some more blood into her palm and looked up at me again, her stupid smirk still stuck on her face. Though it wasn't as stable as it had been earlier.

"Oh, I didn't mean to hit a nerve, Leo. I feel for you. No, really, I do." She talked with a fake sweet and sympathetic voice. She had her hands resting on her heart and a sickeningly convincing emotional expression on her face. I rolled my eyes at her and pushed her out of the way with my shoulder, just wanting to be _away_ from that twisted excuse for a human being. I used to find her intriguing and pleasing to the eye- but right now her very existence was thoroughly revolting to me. "I mean, it must feel horrible to know that your brother's so incompetent and useless that you'll just have to- well, you know- get rid of him." I halted, feeling like I had just been punched in the stomach, and had sudden difficulty breathing. Did she just imply that we had... And then I felt the anger in me boil up again. I felt myself snap.

I grabbed both of my swords and swung them at Karai. She blocked the attack that she clearly had seen coming, but I didn't care. I just swung over and over, my anger and grief controlling my actions.

"You know _nothing_! _Nothing_ about us, _nothing_ about Donnie! You have no _right_ to talk about him like that!" Karai smirked; I could tell that she wanted me to react this way. She was playing with me; a psychopathic cat with a hurting mouse. A mouse that was already injured and couldn't run away, and yet one she still insisted on torturing.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Leo. I was just curious. You know, to see if the Kraang actually came through with their end of the deal: to destroy you with their portal. Oh, oops!" She placed her hand over her mouth like she hadn't meant to say that, but the tone of her voice told me that she had very much meant to. My body went cold and my arms dropped to my sides.

"What? What did you just say?" She shrugged, placed her hand on her hip and shifted her weight onto said hip. She smiled and looked pretty foxy, like she knew something I didn't.

"Well, I was hoping all of you would be sucked through, but I suppose one is good, too. The plan was meant to destroy you, but even if most of you survived, the loss of a loved one and a teammate will leave an impact on you all either way. So I'd call it a win, anyway." The world went quiet around me and the colours faded away. That had been planned? The Shredder had made the Kraang set up the portal, knowing we would show up and thus try to destroy us by sucking us through to another planet, galaxy or dimension? And they had succeeded with it; they had destroyed one of us. And that was all they needed to know. They knew us well enough to know we would be vulnerable without all of our teammates, and thus open for an attack.

The colours and sounds came back again and I swung at her again, catching her off-guard and making her drop her blade altogether, and I took full advantage of the moment. I grabbed her by the collar of her ninja garb and pulled her up so I could look her in the eyes.

"You _knew_? You knew we would try to stop the Kraang, and what would happen when we did? You knew that they would try to suck us through the portal, take us to Dimension X and kill us by doing so, didn't you? Didn't you?!" She was still caught off guard and didn't respond at first. But she eventually responded by smirking at me again and wiping the blood off of her chin with her thumb.

"Of course. What, did you think that Shredder wanted more to do with those disgusting worm-things? No, he wanted to destroy you. In fact, the whole thing was my idea- and I have to admit, I thought it worked. You know, since we didn't see you for so long? Pity, though- I'd been hoping you would all be gone, sucked into oblivion to die horrible deaths… But I guess getting rid of one of you will suffice for now." She glared as she spoke, looked me straight in the eyes and ripped away from my grasp, leaning in so close that her nose almost touched mine.

"Your rat master took my mother away from me, so I took away one of his dear, beloved children that he loves so much. An eye for an eye, Leo; that's how the world works." I growled at her and shoved her away from me. Tears were burning in my eyes, and I felt a pain in my chest that I recognised all too well: the agony of a broken heart.

"You're despicable, Karai, you know that? I don't understand why I defended you and called you good- you're just as bad as the Shredder. I don't really care if you're Splinter's daughter anymore or not; nobody of his blood would ever agree on something like that! What will destroying us do for you, anyway? Bring back your mother? 'Cause it won't, and you know that." Her gaze suddenly dropped to the ground, less cocky and more a mix of being nonchalant and a tad thoughtful. I knew she probably didn't care, but I had to say it.

"My brother is _dead_ now. My _little_ brother. He's never coming back again- because of _you_. And I will _never_ forgive you for that. You are _evil_. I want you to know that. And I also want you to forget that I ever tried to reason with you or to help you change your ways. From now on, I'll do whatever I can to take you and your so-called 'father' down. Because that's what Donnie would've wanted. You run back to Shredder and tell him that from this night on, we are at war!" I leapt from the rooftop and lifted the nearest manhole to jump down into the sewers. But before I could, I heard Karai call something after me.

"You know you won't win this, right? You and your family are going to pay for what you've done to me and mine! We started with your brother, and we will finish you all! You hear me? We'll finish you _all_!" I bit my lip to keep myself from saying anything stupid and jumped down into the sewers. As quickly as possible, I ran back towards the lair. I felt tears burning behind my eyelids and it wasn't long before some of them managed to fall from my eyes and cascade down my cheeks.

I couldn't believe this; this was too much to take in. Karai, the girl I had once believed to have something good in her from the very first time I met her, had just revealed that the supposed 'freak accident' in that Kraang hideout had been planned- and it was meant to destroy us all. That Kraang bot hadn't fired at the portal to get Donnie or April- it was meant to make it go nuts and send us all through the portal to destroy us. And I know I had been really forgiving with Karai and had overlooked the bad things she had done in the past, but this time, her idea had k- I swallowed thickly. This time, her idea had _killed_ one of my little brothers, and that's where I drew the line. If somebody- anybody at all- tried to hurt my younger brothers, they were my absolute enemies.

When I finally came back to the lair I saw Mikey sitting and talking with Raph, who was taking care of a small injury he had gotten when we fought the Kraang tonight. Leatherhead and Splinter were in deep discussion about something off to the side. But when I jumped over the turnstiles, everybody turned to me. Master Splinter, who had his eyes on Leatherhead the whole time, walked up to me and placed his hands on my shoulder.

"Leonardo, what happened? Are you alright?" I took deep breaths, tried to keep my emotions in check and licked my lips, trying to think of something to say. After a while, I looked up at my father, felt the tears in my eyes threaten to fall and finally managed to speak.

"K-Karai is _not_ part of this family! And she _never_ will be!" After I had managed to get those words over my lips, I tore away from my father's hands and ran to my room, ripped the door open, ran inside and slammed it shut behind me. I threw myself onto my bed and buried my face into my pillow.

 _How_ could I have been so _stupid_? What had I seen in her that had made me believe that she was good, deep down and under the hate and evil that Shredder had raised her in? This was the same girl that had left us after she had created a mutant monster that attacked us, and had tried to kill us more than once. And she had been raised by the Shredder: the man who had lost his mind years ago and was determined to kill us and Master Splinter. And besides, even if she did learn the truth and eventually believed it, she was still the same girl who had tried to kill us several times. What had made me think that she would join us just because she learned the truth about herself? Raph was right, I had been delusional and had just believed what I'd wanted to believe- just like that time with Karai wanting to team up with us to stop the Kraang when she learned that the Kraang wanted to take over our planet. And this time, it had cost me one of my brothers. When would I learn?

I heard the door open, and somebody walked in and then closed the door behind him. I felt somebody place their hand on my back and rub my shell gently and comfortingly.

"Leo? Are you okay?" I looked up and saw Raph and Mikey standing there, looking concerned, Raph patting my shell. I sat up on my bed and leaned back against the wall, wrapping my arms around my knees and looking down on the mattress in shame.

"I'm lying on my bed, face buried in my pillow after saying something I thought I would never say out loud. What makes you think something's wrong?" I couldn't force myself to look into Raph's eyes. He had told me from day one that Karai was bad news; that she would never join us. And now I finally saw that he was right. She was too influenced by the Shredder to see the truth. If she even _wanted_ to see the truth at all, which I was now starting to doubt. Mikey sat down beside me and patted my shoulder.

"Bro, talk to us. You're obviously upset, and we wanna know why. We don't need any more tension in this place than there already is." I sighed and looked up at Mikey, then at Raph for one second before looking down again.

"Okay. I'll tell you. But I think it would be better if I told everyone at the same time. I don't think I could say it more than once- at least for now." They both nodded and we exited into the living room. Raph had his arm around my shell and Mikey leaned his head against my arm. It wasn't much, but those small gestures made me feel a bit better. Master Splinter was standing beside Leatherhead, who was sitting on the steps to the lab, caring for his small wounds. But when Splinter saw us, he walked up to me and once again placed his hands on my shoulders.

"Leonardo, what troubles you? What happened out there to make you so upset?" I took a deep breath, slowly pulled away from my father's hands and sat down on the couch with my shell to my family. I couldn't bear to look at them right now.

"I... I ran into Karai earlier tonight." Raph sat down beside me, facing the same direction as me, and pulled one leg up to his chest, resting his arm on his knee.

"Yeah, we figured as much. What I don't understand is why you said what you said. I mean, before this whole thing with..." He trailed off for a second, taking a deep, shaky breath before he looked back at me. "... you know, with Donnie, you went on and on about how Karai was really good inside and that she had to know the truth so she and Splinter could be reunited. Why change that opinion now, and why so suddenly?" I couldn't look back at him. I was too ashamed to meet his eyes. I inhaled deeply and bit my lip. I had to say it, but how _could_ I say it? How could I say that Karai, who was really Splinter's daughter, had killed one of his sons with her plans? I was still trying to process it myself. I took a deep breath.

"K-Karai told me that our fight with the Kraang had been planned by the Shredder. That the idea was for the Kraang to suck us into the portal and into Dimension X, hoping it would kill us. It wasn't the Kraang that planned to do something with those Kraathatro... Kraathra...Kraathromo... Ugh, those worms that they used to create mutagen! They were planning to destroy us- it was all planned!" I tried to talk as calmly as I could, but my voice kept breaking and I couldn't make myself look up to watch anyone's reaction. I could hear Splinter gasp and in the corner of my eye I saw Mikey throw his arms around Leatherhead's neck. I took a short breath and tried to fight back the tears that had returned with a vengeance.

"They only managed to get one of us, but that's all they needed. Karai had planned it to happen; it was _her_ idea. She wanted to take one of us because she still thinks that Splinter killed her mother. So she thinks it's fair- he took someone from her so she has taken someone from us. She sees it as 'an eye for an eye', and is determined to make sure to destroy the rest of us as well." I had to calm down a little after I had stopped talking, since I didn't realize before how fast I had talked. I looked at Raph through the corner of my eye and saw that he had clenched his hands into fists, trying to hold back his infamous rage. His eyes were shut tightly, but after a while he opened them again and took a deep breath through his nose. I looked over my shoulder and saw that Splinter had lowered his head, obviously torn apart by this news; Mikey still hugged Leatherhead, who looked sympathetic but also a little confused, which was understandable. I looked at Raph with a slightly lowered head, and I felt a like puppy, waiting to be kicked by its cruel owner.

"Well, aren't you going to say it?" Raph seemed to be ejected from his anger and looked at me as if I had just dumped a bucket of ice-cold water over his head, or woken him from a deep trance. Newly awoken and widened green eyes, looking straight into mine.

"What do you mean? Say what?" I looked away again. I felt tears threaten to fall from my eyes, and I fought as hard as I could to hold them back.

"You know... 'I told you so'?" Raph sighed heavily and placed his arm around my shoulders and hugged me close in his usual Raph-manner. And I had to admit, that was not the reaction I had expected.

"Maybe I would, any other day. But now, seeing how upset you are, I won't. With everything going on right now, and everything that's happened, I think the last thing you need right now- the last thing _any_ of us needs- is any harsh words from me." I looked up at my brother and couldn't help but smile- but it was a very weak smile.

"Thanks, Raph." Raph smiled back and patted me on the shoulder.

"But I hope you've learned something from this." I nodded and looked up at him, and then at the others.

"Yeah, Karai is too influenced by Shredder and his vendetta and lust for our deaths; she's too corrupted to save. I see that now. And I was an idiot for believing that she would change her mind- you can't just remove sixteen years of being raised into such a specific and coldhearted life. You can't just change your ways and your perception of reality because someone tells you that you that your life is a lie." Master Splinter's face was scrunched up in emotional pain and he was clearly having a bit of a hard time trying to accept that his daughter had essentially killed one of his sons without batting an eye over it. But he took a deep breath and gazed sadly at all of us while trying to remain composed.

"This... is a hard blow. For us all. But at the time, Karai no longer matters. In a matter days, perhaps even hours, the Kraang will invade; and it that will have to be our number one priority for now." He turned to look at me, Mikey and Raph.

"Gather up as many of our allies as you can, my sons. We will need all the help we can get, and we need to form a plan. A plan to stop the Kraang, once and for all."

* * *

 **A/N: Okay, the reason why Karai isn't a part of the major storyline may be a little weak, but I still wanted Leo to have a legit reason to not like Karai very much at this point in the story, and that was the best thing I could come up with. Also, I'm sorry if Leo's a little OOC here, but I wanted to do this, so... yeah.** **And from this chapter on, and about two or three chapters forward, I will focus on Donnie and Co., and then jump back to the Invasion. Time may be a little confusing, but whatever. It's so hard to write time in this story.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this story and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	28. Chapter 27, A Small Moment of Nostalgia

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Hi, I'm late, but I'm coming with a new chapter! Yeah, sorry I'm so late, but I just couldn't figure out how to start this chapter, and what to write about in it. That, and I've also learned how to make TMNT videos, and have started posting them on Youtube, so iMovie has grabbed my interest for some time now.**

 **So, I went to see Zootopia about two weeks ago, and I just have to say, if you haven't planned on seeing it, GO SEE IT! It's probably one of the smartest and best Disney movies in a really long time!**

 **I hope you enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

* * *

Chapter 27: A Small Moment of Nostalgia

"OW!" I fell to the ground after being tackled by Traximus yet again. I had lost count of how many times that had happened the past two hours. Slowly, I sat up on my knees and rubbed my head in pain.

I heard Traximus walk up to me and saw through my closed eyelids that the light from the overheads in the room got slightly darker as his big body blocked them. I opened my eyes but refused to look up to him. I was too ashamed to meet his gaze. I knew what he was thinking, anyway. 'Why am I wasting my time teaching this kid to fight when he's too worthless to even stand up on his own two feet?'.

"Perhaps we should end this session. We've trained enough for today." I looked up at him just as he turned around and left dojo, leaving me on the floor with shame-filled, slightly tearful eyes.

When Traximus had left the training room, I could tell by his posture and his breathing that he wasn't pleased. And I knew why he wasn't happy with our training sessions. We had only been training for a few days, but so far it had been the same every time. Every time we used the Holographic Training Program, things were easy. It didn't matter if I fought ordinary mutants, Foot ninjas or Kraang-bots; I could fight them easily and, for the most part, win. But when Traximus tried to teach me a new move, how to block an attack from a Triceraton or how to use my weapon more effectively, I always ended up getting kicked to the floor or hitting myself with the staff. And he wasn't the only one getting frustrated with the lack of progress.

I wanted this. I wanted to keep training, to get better and stronger and to learn to become the warrior I needed and wanted to be; but for some reason, whenever I tried to train, something came in and ruined my concentration and I ended up making a fool of myself. I knew better than this. I mean, I had been training in martial arts since before I could walk and knew my bo-staff better than anyone else. And now I couldn't make a simple high-kick or twirl the staff without hitting myself or failing in the most embarrassing way possible. It was humiliating. But I couldn't figure out what it was that was holding me back from doing any better in my training. From performing the way I should perform.

I sat down on one of the couches, placed my chin in my hands and sighed heavily. What was wrong with me? Why couldn't I get it right? And how in the world could a turtle, who couldn't even twirl his own staff without hitting himself with it, be able to save the earth from getting destroyed? And what was I supposed do about my situation?

A thought entered my head, and I looked up from the floor and towards the training room. I scanned my surroundings to see if I was alone and then made my way up to the control panels. The Professor had used this program to recreate a rooftop back in New York with Kraang as well as other mutants and enemies I had fought in my life. So wouldn't it be possible for me to...? I looked through the data and saw that the Professor had made a file of everything my brothers and I had fought so far that I had fought in the dojo. Tiger Claw, Rahzar, Fishface, Dogpound, Karai, Snakeweed. Heck, even Justin had been programmed into these computers. I looked through the computer's files and found what I was looking for: Planet Earth, locations.

I pressed a few more buttons to look through the file of people I could fight. And when I saw that none of the ideas I had in mind where there, I looked through the programs. I was really good with technology, that was not exactly a secret, but I was still adjusting to this new tech, as well as everything else aboard this ship. After a bit of looking, I noticed a plug that stuck out of the computers, one that was very similar to the ones on the Food Replicator, and got the idea. In order to program what I wanted on the computers, maybe I had to... I shrugged. What was the harm in trying? I placed the plug on my forehead and immediately the computers started to work and progress my thoughts.

After I was done putting the new changes into the computers and the file of enemies and locations, I removed the plug from my head and re-entered the room, closing the door behind me. For the first few seconds, nothing happened, but then the room started to change again. The cold, white metal changed into a much smaller room. A medium-sized room with Japanese-style decor, carpets on the floor, weapons racked up along the walls and a big tree growing in one end of the room. I didn't have to think for a second; I recognised it immediately. It was our family's dojo, back home in New York City.

The sight was so new, yet so familiar all at once. And even though I had seen it a million times in my childhood and had grown used to seeing it every day during training, I had never so happy to see that dojo in my entire life. It was all so familiar; every single detail was warm and comforting as apposed to the cold metal that made up most of the ship I was on. Even the stench of the sewer felt like home to me; which I never thought it would. It all made me tear up. Home. This was home- _my_ home.

I rubbed my arm over my eyes to get rid of the few tears that had started form in them, but then got another surprise thrown at me.

The sound of a Shōji being opened made me turn around, mostly out of instinct, but also to investigate what happened behind me. And if I wasn't tearing up before, I most certainly did at that exact moment. There, with his red-brown robe that always seemed to smell of tea and Japanese herbs, calm yet firm amber-coloured eyes looking out over the room, standing proud and tall and with an air of wisdom and strength around him, he was. Master Splinter. My father. Dear, beloved father.

I felt the tears fall from my eyes and I fought against the sobs that threatened to get out. He walked out of his room and towards the middle of the dojo, waiting in front of the tree with his walking stick in his hand and his eyes closed. Relaxed and still ready to smack anyone in the face. I walked up to him, felt a few more tears fall down my cheeks and fought against the urge to run up to him and hug him and never let him go.

"Sensei... Father..." He stood there, like he hadn't heard a word I said, but before I could do or say anything else, another voice reached my ears.

"Come on, dudes! Dojo-time, bros- get your shells moving!" I gasped and an unwelcomed sob managed to work its way out of my mouth. That voice. So childlike; eager and filled with energy. Managing to make even the most serious and deadpanned person in the world crack a smile.

"Mikey?" In through the door they came. Tired, slightly unfocused and, in one case, agitated at being woken so early. Leo, Raph and Mikey. My brothers, right there and ready to train.

"Guys!" The smile that came at the sight of them threatened to split my face in two and I wanted nothing more than to hug them, right there and then. But before I could, Splinter opened his eyes and walked up to the four of us. The guys quickly formed a line, and I was quick to get in line as well, albeit a bit more clumsily and awkwardly than I would back home.

"Today you are going to spar all at once. You will have to use all of your senses, and look out for an attack from every possible way. Last turtle standing wins." I felt myself getting nostalgic; this was how a training session was supposed to be. Familiar and inviting, not completely new and ruthless. And even as we all turned to each other, I couldn't help but smile like a dork at how familiar this was. Raph noticed this, rolled his eyes at me pointed the tip of his sai in my direction.

"Why are ya smiling like that, you dork? You can't be _that_ eager to be thrown to the floor, Brainiac!" I was shaken out of my thoughts, and my determination to prove I could defeat Raph took over. I twirled my staff and smirked my cockiest smirk at him.

"Bring it on, Meathead!" Raph made a move to attack me, but then Mikey came in from the left and managed to knock Raph out of his attack and gain his attention.

"Mikey! I was going for Donnie- now move it!" Mikey spun his nunchucks and smiled teasingly.

"Last turtle standing, bro! Gotta get your head in the game, dude!" He whacked his weapon at Raph's head, who managed to dodge and then went to stab him instead, only to be stopped by Mikey's kusarigama chain. But that was about as much as I got to see of Raph and Mikey's fight, 'cause Leo came from the left and swung his katana at my face. Out of instinct I raised my staff and blocked his attack, and then swung my leg out, sweeping Leo off of his feet. He managed to catch himself before he could hit the ground by landing on his hands and jumping back up onto his feet.

He swung his sword at me again, and I kept on blocking his attacks. I knew Leo would keep on attacking until I decided to counter, and only then would he change his attacks and try to throw in a finishing blow, knocking me out of the game. But this time I was determined to at the very least get one of my brothers knocked down. After all, I had been fighting soldiers and aliens that were much tougher than my brothers. How hard could it be?

But just as I was about to hit Leo, I was kicked in the side and was sent flying across the dojo, only barely managing to catch myself and get back on my feet before I hit the floor. Raph had managed to knock Mikey out, who was now sitting on the sidelines, watching the fight with interested eyes. And now Raph had his eyes set on me. And if I knew Raph as well as I thought I did, I _knew_ he wasn't going to play nice or give up on trying to beat me to the floor.

He and Leo shared a glance, smirked at each other and then turned back to me. And I knew what was going on. The look in their eyes showed that a temporary truce had formed between them so they could both take me out and then fight each other. Which we all knew could get pretty rough- something they both loved.

I gritted my teeth and gripped the staff tighter in my hands. No way. I was not gonna let them take me down, especially now since I've been facing and fighting a lot worse this past month. Raph made the first move, sai tightly gripped in his hands, and yelled his signature battle cry, ready to pounce. Then, suddenly, as I was trying to think of a way to take him down, Traximus' words rang in my head.

" _You can't keep looking for an opening all the time! An enemy won't always give you an opening, so you have to keep fighting and keep trying._ " It threw me for a loop for a second, and I was surprised that I actually remembered that small lesson. And then, out of nowhere, Splinter's voice joined in as well.

" _The key is to unbalance your opponent._ " An idea entered my head, literally in seconds, and I narrowed my eyes in determination and readied myself. This time I was gonna take Raph down.

I got ready with my staff, making sure he thought that I was gonna raise it to block his sai. But then I got down on my knees and kicked up at Raph's chest, making him stumble back. He dropped his sai and placed his hands over his chest, gasping for air, leaving him vulnerable to an attack.

I dropped the bo-staff, got down to the floor and shot my leg out, sweeping Raph off his feet and making him fall on his shell, knocking him out of the battle. For a few seconds he just lied there, trying to catch his breath, his eyes closed. When he finally opened his eyes he glared at me.

"Ugh, lucky shot, dork..." Master Splinter stepped up to him and looked down at him sternly. That was all Raph needed, and he slowly got to his feet, walked over to Mikey and knelt down beside him. Mikey smirked and stuck his tongue out at Raph, who just smacked him across the head and crossed his arms over his chest.

Leo, who hadn't thought that Raph was gonna be taken out so easily and looked like he had been meaning to attack but then stopped short when I managed to knock Raph to the ground, stood there and looked a little irresolute, but then gripped both his swords and smirked at me.

"Huh, you're pretty good today, bro! You've really done well- I'll give you that. But don't get too cocky, little brother. You know I'm gonna knock you down anyway." I bent down and grabbed my bo again, smirking cockily at Leo.

"Heh, don't be so sure, Leo. I'm gonna kick your shell today!" He raised a brow at me, clearly not used to me standing up to him like this. He gripped his swords a little tighter and then ran towards me, ready to attack. I raised my staff and got ready to block, but then Leo got down on the floor and tried to sweep me off my feet. I barely had time to jump up and out of the way before he managed to get me, and then tried to swing my staff at his head. He rolled out of the way, got up on his feet and swung his swords at my face, barely giving me time to block the attack and try to push him away from me. But Leo insisted on pushing his swords against my staff, refusing to let up. It was essentially nothing but a battle of who was gonna give in first.

Leo was stronger than me; he always had been. Even if I was determined and had a will to never give up, it wasn't going to change that Leo was both stronger and more skilled in ninjutsu than I was. But I had gotten stronger over the past few weeks, both from the little training I had gotten with Traximus the past few days and from fighting aliens and having pushed myself so hard to, you know, survive, and it had left an impact on me and my muscles. I gathered up my strength and managed to shove Leo away from me. He stumbled and I took my chance. I took the staff and swung it at Leo's head, but he looked up at the last second, got down and used my attack against me. He kicked me in the chest, just like I had done with Raph, and sent me flying to the floor, defeating me and making him the winner.

"Yame!" Splinter's voice called out and we all looked up at him. He looked at all of us proudly with a warm yet strict smile. We approached him and kneeled down in front of him, looking up at our father in respect.

"My sons, you keep excelling in your training. And even though you still have a lot to learn, it is clear that you are getting stronger each day." He turned to Mikey, looking down at him firmly.

"Michelangelo, a surprise attack is very resourceful and will serve you well in a fight, but you still need to work on your focus." Mikey bowed his head and nodded. Splinter turned to Raph.

"Raphael, your strength and passion in a fight is remarkable, but you are allowing yourself to become overconfident. And that will hinder you if you allow yourself to underestimate your opponent." Raph pressed his lips together, clearly not happy about being defeated, especially by me. And I couldn't help but smirk at his reaction to that, and at the fact that I had managed to beat him. That felt really good.

"Leonardo." Leo straightened his back a little when his name was mentioned. "You continue to show that you are very good fighter and tactician, but, like Raphael, you show to be too overconfident. An opponent that can be unassuming may be your worst enemy to date. Never forget that- both of you." Leo bowed his head in respect, showing that he understood, and Raph nodded slowly and begrudgingly.

Then Master Splinter turned to me. And, after so many weeks, looking him in the eyes almost made me want to cry. I actually felt tears sting in my eyes, and quickly tried to blink them away before they could roll down my cheeks. But the smile that threatened to split my face in two was too strong to fight back.

"Donatello, I must say that I am impressed. You seem to have grown in strength and in following your instincts. That was very well done today. However, it seems like your mind is somewhere else. You are thinking of other things while you should be focusing on what you are doing. Is there something bothering you, my son?" I bit my lip and tried to think of a response. What was I supposed to say? That I was thinking of the aliens I had been fighting? Or that I was literally light years away from Earth? I shook my head and shrugged lightly.

"Nothing, Sensei, really. I'm just a little tired today, that's all." He looked at me and he clearly didn't buy it, but he merely shook his head at me and then looked at the others as well.

"Well then, my sons. That will be enough training for now. You are dismissed. I will see you later for your evening training." Leo, Raph and Mikey stood up and started to leave the room, but my feet seemed frozen to the floor. I looked up at my father and couldn't tear my eyes away from him. But for some reason he didn't seem to notice. It was like I wasn't there anymore. I heard Mikey call out to me that he was making breakfast, but his words fell on deaf ears. I walked up to Master Splinter, still with a smile on my face and tears in my eyes, and reached out my hand to hug him.

"Master Splinter, I've missed you so-!" Just as I touched his arm, my hand went right through his body, and he disappeared like a hologram that shut itself off. I was so surprised I yanked my hand away and took a step back, and then looked around as the dojo melted away into a white, bright room made out of metal where I was all alone.

Reality could hit pretty hard at times, I knew that, but this almost felt cruel. I had for a single, solitary moment felt like I was home again. I had for one second forgotten about my mission and how I had to save the Earth from destruction by the hands of the Triceratons, and had just had a normal training session. And for one second, I felt like a part of my family again, which hadn't happened in a very long time. And now, reality smashed itself into my face, pretty much yelling that it hadn't been real. None of it was. It was fake. Nothing but a stupid, lifeless hologram.

I felt the tears form in my eyes yet again, but this time, they weren't exactly tears of joy. I rubbed my arm over my eyes and tried my hardest to fight back the sobs that stung in my throat and made it feel like it was going to implode. I almost felt like falling to my knees and breaking down, but I fought against it. I was not about to break down right now- not in a room where anyone could walk in at any second.

I heard the doors open behind me and somebody clapped their hands. I looked over my shoulder and saw that Traximus had walked up to me. He smiled at me and slowly clapped his hands together.

"Donatello, I saw you train against those other turtles in there, and that was really, really good." I suppose I should have been happy that he was praising me about how I fought against my brothers, but I couldn't. I was thinking about other things. Or maybe I should say other _people_.

"Thanks, Traximus." I muttered and looked away from him, down at the floor with my shell turned to him. But he didn't seem to notice or care- he just kept talking.

"I don't understand why you can't fight like that when we train. You clearly have good skills and you know how to fight. You are a natural fighter, Donatello." 'Natural fighter? Hmph, yeah right. That had to be the biggest untrue statement of the century. But I didn't care; I just turned around, walked past Traximus and towards the door.

"Yeah... Maybe I am." I mumbled it to myself, but either he heard it and wanted ask me about it, or he was concerned about my attitude, because he called out after me. But I just tried to ignore him and left the dojo.

"Donatello? Donatello!" I walked out into the dining and entertainment room, ignoring the fact that Jhanna, Starlee and Mona Lisa were there too, looking through the window of the dojo, and trudged toward the door that led to the bedrooms.

"Donnie? Are you alright?" Starlee called after me, and I turned around to look at her. Her big purple eyes were filled with concern and sympathy, but also an innocence and naiveté that I had only seen in Mikey's big baby blues. Jhanna also looked concerned, but not as much as her sister, and she also looked more confused than sympathetic. And that, for some reason, reminded me of Leo when he tried to understand when I was frustrated with an invention or the retromutagen or something like that. And Mona Lisa was looking at me for the first time without disgust, disinterest or distrust, but rather with a mix of confusion and a sort of compassion or understanding that I had only seen in Raph's eyes and that was very rare these days. And all this made it hurt even more for some reason. I tried to smile at the girls and nodded slowly.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, Starlee. I just need a moment to myself, that's all. If you need me, I'll be in my room." I exited the room and went to my bedroom, opened the door and closed it softly behind me. For a second I felt tempted to slam the door shut, but decided against it, since I wasn't angry or frustrated and I was too upset to use any energy for something so pointless and unnecessary.

I sat down on my bed, rested my shell against the headboard and hugged one of my pillows to my chest. And then, when I was alone, I finally released the water building up in my eyes. Well, I had gotten my answer. I could train 'with my family' if I wanted to. I could train alongside my brothers and learn lessons from Master Splinter as well, but I didn't feel that much better. In fact, right now, I felt nothing short of miserable.

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 **A/N: Aaaaaand it's finally done! You have no idea how hard it was to get this chapter done, but now it is! And I hope you liked it how I delve a little deeper into the block in Donnie's training. Maybe some of you have figured out what it is? Yeah, I know nothing much happened in this chapter, but we can't have fights and battles all the time, now, can we?**

 **I hope you liked this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	29. Chapter 28, Moriah on the Chase

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Another week, another chapter. And I am so happy to say that I'm only a few reviews away from 100 reviews. Thank you guys so much! You are so awesome for reading and following this story for as long as for you have! Thank you!**

 **I hope you'll like this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 28: Depression and Moriah on the Chase

The day went by, and my mood didn't improve the tiniest bit. The feeling of misery transferred into a depression, and no matter what I did it wouldn't go away. I don't know how long I had stayed in my room before I finally decided to come out, only that when I did come out, the others had just finished eating lunch. And even though no one said anything to me directly, I could feel their looks on the back of my head. I also heard that Starlee and Jhanna had been talking behind my back after I had taken a shower and was on my way to the dining and entertainment room.

"Why do you think he's so depressed? He did so well in that fight, so it couldn't be because of that, could it?" Starlee's voice was so sweet and naive and she clearly sounded concerned, but also a little like she was scared of talking about this. Probably because we hadn't known each other for long and she might be scared of talking about things that weren't her business. Jhanna shrugged and shook her head.

"I don't know. I mean, I've seen how Donnie acts around people, and he doesn't seem like the kind of guy to wear his heart on his sleeve. I've only seen him cry once, and even then it was justified. But then again, he's been through quite a bit the past few weeks and it is the first time he's off his home planet, so maybe all that's happened in the past is taking its toll on him." I pressed myself against the wall just beside the door and decided to listen, even though I knew I shouldn't. I wanted to know what these two thought of my attitude.

"What do you think we should do? Just ignore it and let him get through it on his own?" Hearing Starlee asking things like these was like listening to a girl version of Mikey, although a little smarter than him. She sounded so similar that it made my heart clench, and listening to Jhanna, the older sister trying to comfort her younger sister, made me think of Leo. She sighed and placed her arm around Starlee's shoulders.

"I don't know; maybe. I'm just not sure how we would do it, though. He seems pretty reserved about his past and his family. Maybe we should let him come to us, but then again, maybe that's not a good idea, either. Ugh! Why are you asking me this, Starlee? You're the sympathetic and compassionate one, not me!" Starlee pulled away from her sister, a little surprised at her outburst, and then relaxed a little. They sat there, quiet for a few minutes, until Starlee turned to Jhanna again.

"Who do you think those other creatures were? Those three that look like him and that strange furry one? Do you suppose they have something to do with it? You've known him longer than I have- has he ever mentioned something about other creatures like him?" Jhanna seemed to remember something, but before she could answer I walked away from the door. I didn't want to hear any more of that. I walked over to the stairs and sat down on the highest step, placed my head in my hands and rested my elbows on my knees, sighing heavily.

I was in a funk, and I had no idea how to get out of it. Nothing I tried to do seemed to help. Not training, not showering, not working at the computers and watching TV in the dining and entertainment room. And it didn't help that my friends were talking behind my back 'cause they didn't know if they should talk to me about it.

In a way I was thankful that they didn't come to me and try to, more or less, force me out of my bad mood or try to cheer me up with everything they had in store like my brothers would do back home. They gave me space, but were at least considerate enough to talk about whether that would be the tactic in order to help me. That felt pretty nice, especially considering I had only known them for a month at most or a few days at least. My brothers didn't always show that much consideration, and just tried whatever they could to get me to cheer up, and if it didn't succeed, they'd just leave to 'mope and dope' as long as I wanted to, as they said. At the very least these guys wanted to actually help me- they just didn't know how to do it.

"Donatello? Are you alright, my boy?" I looked up from the floor and saw the Professor look down on me. After spending some at the computers with him, I had started to figure out how to see what 'emotion' he had at the moment. His eyes would sometimes change to different kinds of pupils, like emojis, in a way. And right now, I could see he was concerned and a little curious.

"Uh… yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I'm just a little out of sorts right now. I'll be fine, just give a day or so, and I'll be fine in no time." He didn't exactly look convinced and sat down beside me, placing his hand on my shoulder and smiling gently at me with his eyes. His mouth, not so much.

"Are you sure? It seems to me as though you're trying to suppress something. I know we haven't known each other for very long, but I hope you know that you can talk to me. I might be able to help you." I looked at him and tried to smile, though it felt pretty forced.

"Thank you, Professor, but I don't think that's necessary. I've had days like these before and they don't last very long. I'm fine. Really." The Professor nodded and removed his hand from my shoulder, but he didn't seem to be entirely convinced. But I was grateful that he at least knew when to back off, and didn't pester me to talk or think of something else, like Mikey and Raph and sometimes even Leo (though that was pretty rare) did.

Suddenly an alarm went off and the computers started to blink at us, indicating that something was wrong. The Professor and I flew up from the stairs and ran up to the main computers just as Starlee came running into the room with Jhanna right behind her. Through another door, Mona Lisa and Traximus came running as well.

"What's going on? Are we under attack?!" Mona Lisa asked, and I could see that she was scared. I took a second to look at her face and body language and realized that she looked like an animal, ready to defend herself but also ready to flee if she had to. I felt a twinge of sympathy hit me. She was probably afraid the Triceratons had caught up with us and would take her back to the prison.

The Professor searched through the computers and I looked over his shoulder to see what he was typing- he was scanning the area around us to try and see if any ships were close to us. And after a few minutes we could see a small black dot on the screen.

"There's a ship after us! It's a rather far distance away from us, but it's closing in! And it appears to be a Federation ship." The Federation? They were after us, too? Ugh, great! As if having the Triceratons after us wasn't bad enough, we also had the Federation and the crazy warrior princess after us, too. I growled in frustration, but before I could say anything, Jhanna groaned and slammed the back of her head against the wall.

"Oh, great! You know, for a second there I was scared this mission was gonna be too easy!" I turned to her, wide-eyed. I couldn't have said it better myself. She had taken the words straight out of my mouth there. I had been ready to say the exact same thing. I smirked at her and looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"What exactly are you saying over there, Bluebell? You're not up for the challenge?" I had started to understand that she hated being called 'princess', and it was kinda fun to tease her that way. But I thought that was something that could get old really fast, so when I tried to tease her, I wanted to be a little original. She glared at me for a second until she saw my smirk and smirked back at me, placed her hands on her sides and cocked an eyebrow at me.

"Oh, don't you worry about me, tough guy. You should worry about your own shell, or they might kick it into next month. So stop yakking and think of something, shell-brain." I rolled my eyes at her, chuckled lightly and turned back to the screen that showed how far away that ship was in relation to us. It was then that I realized that it was first time today that I'd laughed. Had I really been that depressed?

I shook my head to clear it and pressed on the small dot, and some information came up. I felt my blood freeze in my veins when I saw how close they actually were.

"Oh, man. They're way closer than I'd like them to be. If we don't go faster, or slow them down somehow, they'll catch up to us before we get to that wormhole." I leaned back in my seat and sighed heavily. Starlee came up to the computers and looked over the info we had, seemingly in deep thought- a look I recognized all too well, so I knew better than to disturb her right now.

"Well, we are only about a day away from the wormhole to Filione, and if we increase the speed from eleven to fifteen, then we should get there in less than fifteen hours. We'd probably be there before lunch tomorrow. And thankfully, you can't track a wormhole, so if we go through there, they'll hopefully lose us long enough for us to come up with a way to disguise our ship." The Professor hummed as he thought it over.

"Yes, that might work. But can't go too fast or we'll waste fuel. And we don't have money to buy any more, should we have to." I bit my lip and tried to come up with something myself, but then Mona Lisa came up to us with a tentative look on her face.

"Uh, excuse me? I- I have suggestion." We looked up at her, and she looked almost scared to say what she wanted to. And for a second I didn't see the bratty and disinterested Mona Lisa I had gotten to know over the past few days. Instead I saw that little Salamandarian girl I'd defended against those big, strong aliens. Scared, unsure and not very steady on her feet. I nodded, tried to look encouraging and gestured with my hand at her to keep talking. She took a deep breath, played a little with her long hair and looked down at the floor. "Well, my people aren't really a technological species. We've lived in the woods for as long as anyone can remember. But we have ships and we have fuel for when do need to leave our world- to go to different planets or something. I'm sure they'd be willing to give you some fuel as thanks for bringing me home. We're not the bravest, the strongest or the smartest, but we care for our people, and if one of us is in danger, we will help them. They'll be very grateful." Starlee smiled at her and placed her hand on her shoulder.

"That's great! Thanks, Mona!" Mona Lisa looked a little surprised at the enthusiasm in her voice, and she froze when she touched her shoulder, like she both didn't like it and didn't expect it. But when she saw how Starlee smiled at her, she tried to smile back- even if it looked forced and stiff, like she wasn't used to smiling. I nodded at her and looked over at the Professor and Starlee.

"Great. Now, you heard the Salamandarian. Let's make the changes and get as far away from the Federation as possible. Starlee, adjust the engines and try to turn off any traceable signal. We don't want to take any chances with them finding us." She nodded, her smile completely gone, and now looked completely serious as she started to work. I turned to the Professor.

"Professor, increase the speed to sixteen. If that's not enough, go to twenty. But not above that, the fuel wouldn't last long enough for the trip to Zerij." He nodded and started to work.

"Right-o, Captain!" I froze a little at the word 'captain' and considered saying that I wasn't the captain on this ship, but after some thinking I decided to ignore it and looked through the files to find any way to disguise our ship long enough for us to get to the wormhole without Moriah being able to spot us. And, as much as the situation was a problem right now, I was thankful for the distraction given to me. I could think of something else, something other than my family or anything else and it was the first time today I didn't feel depressed. But I also knew that the second the problem was solved and we could walk away from the control room, I would start thinking about it again, and would be just as depressed again. And that thought alone started to make me depressed.

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(Moriah's P.O.V)

I looked out over the vast black space outside of the big window with my hands on the metal railing, and shifted most of my weight onto the railing. The stars we passed by all seemed to blink at me, as if saying, 'you're pathetic, you're pathetic'. My thoughts raced at a thousand miles per light-second. My current situation was very serious and it was imperative for me to find the Fugitoid, that wretched reptile and my sisters as quickly as possible. If I couldn't do that, I could never go home again. And it would all be because of that stupid reptile. After everything I had done to become the warrior and leader I am today, my father was ready to banish me for things out of my control.

All my life I had trained, worked and studied everything my father told me I needed to know in order to become the leader of D'hoonib. And I had never questioned him, never disobeyed him and had never tried to fight him because I didn't understand or agree with him. I mean, Father knows best, after all. And this was what he did to thank me. Threaten to banish me because one stupid alien had decided to interfere with our plans.

I sighed, lowered my head and looked through the window. I had to find them, destroy the enemy and bring my sisters home again. And if I managed to bring the Fugitoid with me, Father had to be proud of me. He just had to. If that didn't make him start to appreciate me, then I didn't know what would.

"Um, Miss Moriah?" I turned around to watch as one of my soldiers walked in through the doors and up at me. I took a breath and turned away from the window, approaching the man.

"I hope you have some news that I can use. What did you find?" He looked away from me and down at his techno-notepad. He pressed on the surface a few times and a holographic image of the ship that Starlee had stolen appeared.

"This is the ship that your sister stole from our fleets. It's not one of our own ships, but the technology is similar enough for us to hack into." He gulped and looked down at the floor, as if scared or nervous. "U-unfortunately, someone or something managed to block the signal before we could gather very much information." What? He couldn't be serious right now. I smacked him across the face, grabbed him by the collar of his overalls and stared into his eyes.

"What?! You cannot seriously stand here and tell me that a little girl, more than half your age, managed to outsmart you! I told you, I do not support incompetence!" He shivered under my gaze and seemed to shrink. He transformed from a full-grown man into a small child.

"I- I don't think it was your sister. S-she is very intelligent, there is no doubt about that, but she is not smart enough to block the signal of an entire ship's computer system. That is something only the most brilliant of scientists can do." I grumbled under my breath, turned away from the soldier and stared down at the floor for a second.

" _Honeycutt_." I held back my growl of anger and then looked back at the soldier, who was still shivering in fear, and then let go of his collar. "Ugh, very well, then. What did you manage to find before the signal was blocked?" He took a breath and turned back to his was blocked?" He took a breath and turned back to his notepad.

"W-well, we found out that they are headed for a wormhole that, if the calculations are correct, will go to Filione, a planet where no technology has been allowed for hundreds and thousands of years. But it seems like they are truly headed for another planet; Zerij, a planet with very little intelligent life and little to no inhabitants." Zerij? They were headed for that hellhole? How could they be so stupid? Did they have a death wish?

"Zerij? Are you sure, soldier?" He nodded and I placed my hands on my sides, paced around in the room a little and then looked back up at him once more.

"Alright, then. Follow them, but stay as far away from them as you can without losing track of them. Let them fall into a false sense of security, and then, when they arrive at Zerij, we attack!" He saluted and left, and I walked back up to the window and looked out across space.

"Well, Terrapin. I don't know what goes on in your head to make you want to go to such a horrible, deadly and dangerous planet as Zerij, but if you truly want to stand face to face with the Wendigo, then who am I to stop you? Just know that the moment you fall dead upon that sour, unholy ground, it will be by my sword..."

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 **A/N: Okay, something I should say, right off the bat, is that I am in love with some stories by Stephen King. Carrie, Pet Sematary, The Green Mile, The Shining as well as some others. And even though I haven't read all of the books, I was still inspired to use some of his ideas in my story. So if you are a fan and recognise some elements, just be assured, I am not trying to steal any of his ideas. I was just inspired by some of them. And some of the planets we are going to visit in the future will have either small or bigger ideas based on his stories. Just so you know.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this story and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	30. Chapter 29, Ice Cream and Late Talks

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Happy birthday to me! YAY, it's my birthday! That's right, today on this Tuesday I am turning eighteen years old! O... M... Goodness, I am getting old. And yes, I will keep making Zootopia references for a while, and if you don't like it, just try to stop me!**

 **Anyway, chapter time! So, I've wanted to write this chapter for so long and looked forward to writing it. So what happens? Writer's block, of course. Yeah... I hate it when that happens.**

 **I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 29: Ice Cream and Late Night Talks

It was the middle of the night, everybody had gone to bed hours ago, and I still hadn't managed to fall asleep. I had spent the last two hours tossing and turning and trying to fall asleep or make myself tired, but nothing worked. Not counting sheep, not the breathing exercises Splinter had taught us when we were kids, not listening to soft music on my T-phone; nothing. My brain just would not shut off and understand that it was time to sleep. And my mind kept drifting off, far, far away from where I was. About a million light years away from where I was right now. On a small green and blue planet, far away, that had my family on it.

I guess it's safe to say that my mood hadn't improved much throughout the day, even after we had managed to dodge the Federation. I will admit, it wasn't as bad as it had been earlier today, but still. When the others had gone to eat dinner, I had chosen to stick by the command bridge and make sure that the Federation wasn't still tracking us, and that the cloak we had put up was still functional. Once I knew that they had left the dining room, I had gone in there and thought up some pizza for my own dinner. I don't exactly know why I don't want to be near the others right now. Maybe it's because I know that they know I'm so depressed -I mean, it's not that hard to see- and I also know they whisper about it behind my back.

Traximus had, at one point today, pulled me aside and asked me if something had offended me when he praised me for my solo training earlier today, and I had been quick to say that he hadn't done anything wrong and that it wasn't his fault.

"I'm just having an off day today. I'll be okay; just give me the rest of the day and I'll be okay by tomorrow." I had said that throughout the whole day when someone asked how I was. And that was usually all I needed back home when I felt a little down in the dumps. I would spend the day in the lab, letting myself be sad for a while, and then by the next day I would feel better. But here, I just ended up feeling worse. And for once, I had no idea why I was feeling depressed.

Well, okay, I did know. I was missing my family, and after my brain being fooled into believing that Splinter and my brothers were here for just a short while, I then had reality smacked in my face. So I knew why I was a bit depressed, but I still didn't understand why it wouldn't go away in the slightest. I mean, I had had small moments of missing my family prior to when we got aboard this ship, and at the end of the day, I had managed to pull through and not get distracted by my emotions. So what was different now?

When April had left us before, I had been devastated and every other day I would get scared of the possibility that she would never come back and be our friend again. But that sadness and fear usually didn't conquer my life and I would eventually start thinking of something else after letting myself be sad for a short while. That, or another mission would come up and catch my attention. And sometimes, when I saw her getting along so well with Casey, or when someone would say that I shouldn't get my hopes up, 'because it would never work', I could also get a little depressed, but, again, it all went away pretty fast. I considered myself a very optimistic person, and my sadness and depression never stopped me from doing what I had to do. So why, why, _why_ wouldn't it go away this time?!

I groaned and sat up in my bed, tying my mask on my face again. This obviously wasn't helping me sleep, so I might as well trying something else. And I felt a little hungry, too. Maybe a midnight snack would help me get tired or at least help me relax. I slowly opened the door to my room, looking out into corridor to see if somebody had left their door open or if anyone was up and about, and then started to sneak past the closed doors and out the into the dining room. To my relief, it was empty and no one else was awake at the moment.

I went to the food replicator and started to think of what to eat. I had tried to eat healthy (well, as healthy as you can when most of your diet consists of pizza) and not too much sugar, soda or unhealthy snacks, since I knew I needed to stay in shape if I was gonna succeed with this mission. But, even still, a little sugar here and there didn't exactly hurt, so before I could think up a cheese sandwich and a glass of milk, I changed my mind and pulled away from the machine to think for a second.

I had been through so much the past month. Transported across the galaxy, separated from my family, chased around like an animal from planet to planet and now I had to destroy a stupid machine before a species of dangerous, deadly aliens could get it and use it to destroy the Earth. And it had all left an impact on me, whether it was big or small, and I felt like I was about to burst out of anxiety and stress. So, yeah, I deserved a treat. I usually wasn't the one for comfort eating. That was more Mikey's thing, and in some cases April's during a stressful time at school or something. But right now, I didn't care. I deserved it. Besides, chocolate stimulated the release of endorphins, which could maybe help lessen my depression. So I thought for a second and then made up my mind.

I placed the plug onto my forehead and thought myself up a big ice cream dessert. When the hatch opened, I felt my mouth water just a bit. It was big bowl with a large serving of mint chocolate chip ice cream, and it looked so good I felt myself starting to drool a little. I loved mint chocolate ice cream; it was the best. I took the bowl and the spoon that stuck out of one of the scoops, went out into the control room and sat down at the big window that showed nothing but open space. I sat down as close to the window as I could, leaned my head against the glass and looked at the stars and planets we passed as I ate my ice cream.

So... what was wrong with me? And how could I snap out of it and get back on track? I knew why I was sad, but I didn't know how to get out of it. My brothers usually helped me with a good distraction when they felt like they needed to help me (which wasn't very often) or sometimes when they didn't mean to, like when Raph got angry at Mikey and chased him around the lair. Now, I felt like I could call the Professor, Jhanna and Traximus to some extent my friends, but we still weren't good enough friends for me to feel like I could share that personal information with them. Especially about my family.

My family... How were they doing right now? How had they taken my disappearance? How had they reacted after I fell through the portal, and what did they think had happened to me? They probably thought I was dead right now, and maybe they had moved on by now. It's been a little more than a month. They must have gotten used to me being gone. Maybe even relieved, too. Except for the fact that they didn't have genius on the team anymore. And also, both Leo and Raph had been on my case about how I was thinking too much of myself and not the big picture, and that I needed to get over myself. Like I couldn't have basic needs, or disagree with any of them, or have an opinion of my own. It was like they were in the driver seats and any time I tried to put in my two cents, they would shove me away and completely ignore me. Like I wasn't there, or they hadn't heard a thing I said. At the very least Mikey didn't try to be mean, ignore me or shove me away. He just tried to hang out and cheer me up. With mixed results, but still. And although he didn't always have the focus or interest to listen to me, he still cared about me enough to want to keep me company and have fun with me.

I missed them. As much as they had driven me crazy, ignored me and treated me so badly, I missed them so much. And I don't know if I should. If anything I should be thrilled. I had finally managed to get away from the torture and I could start a new life for myself. I could stay on one of these planets I'd never heard of before and start over, forget everything about my old life, old friends and old family. But that had never once hit me before. And everything in my heart told me that I didn't want to, even though my head told me I could do it. And I don't think I could stay on another planet very long before I would get homesick. Regardless, something in me didn't want to care about my family.

 _'You have no reason to go back to those jerks! They mistreated you, ignored you and acted like you weren't part of the family for so many years. Why do you want to go back to them and why do you miss them? You're free from them!'_

But at the same time, my heart said other things.

 _'No, you don't want that. You love them. You know you do, even if they don't. You know that you could never leave them, no matter how badly they treat you. You love them too much to leave them.'_ I sighed and sucked the ice cream off the spoon before pulling it out of my mouth again, putting it back in the bowl and leaning my forehead against the window and my hand against the glass.

"Guys, I hope you know that I love you, even though you probably don't love me." I closed my eyes and fought against the tears that threatened to fall. "I'll make it back to Earth, guys. I promise. And I'll make sure the Earth is saved from the Triceratons. Or die trying."

"Hey, Donnie." I jumped at the sudden voice and turned around to look at the door, and saw Jhanna standing there, leaning against the doorframe with her arms folded and a tired smirk on her face. She smiled at me and walked up to me. "You're up late." I tried to smile at her as she came up to me and sat down beside me, but my thoughts were a little all over the place.

"Yeah, I had a hard time sleeping and got up for a snack. What about you? What are you doing up?" She smirked and sat with her back against the window.

"I couldn't sleep. I had a lot on my mind, so I decided to get up and look at the stars for a while. That usually helps me sleep or at the very least relax." I looked her over, and, seeing her now in her new nightclothes, I started to see her in a different way.

She and Starlee had spent part of the day looking around in the bedrooms and other rooms on the ship for clothes and other things they could use, and had managed to find some clothes for her to wear, in case something got dirty or she just wanted to wear something else outside of her spacesuit, such as something to sleep in. She had managed to find a light blue-grey t-shirt that was a slightly too big for her and hung slightly off her shoulders, and black leggings. She'd also managed to find a couple of black boot-like slippers that she liked walking around in, too. She had her hair down, which made her feel a bit more comfortable to be around than in her spacesuit, gear and tied hair. She felt more like a normal person at the moment, rather than some strange alien from another planet. Well, she hadn't really felt that weird to be around when I got to know her, but still, there was always something about her that just screamed that she wasn't a human.

I shrugged and swallowed some more ice cream. She looked down at my bowl and stared at the cold dessert like she thought it was poison or something.

"What _is_ that?" She pointed and raised an eyebrow at it, looking a bit disgusted but also curious. I scooped some more onto my spoon and held it out so she could more easily examine it.

"It's ice cream- it's a dessert on my planet. It's frozen milk and cream, along with the taste of a fruit or candy. It's really good." She wrinkled her nose and leaned in closer to the dessert, inspecting it carefully.

"It somewhat reminds me of Sherungu." She talked more to herself than to me, but unlike the time I had introduced her to pizza, she didn't look quite as revolted. I frowned slightly at her and retracted the spoon.

"Sherungu? What's that?" She met my eyes again and brushed her bangs out of her face, slightly revealing the scar there.

"It's a gelatinous dessert made out of the intestines and slime of mashed slugs. We serve it cold, because when it's warm it becomes practically impossible to eat. I've never liked it all that much, but it's a delicacy on D'hoonib." Once she got to the part about mashed slugs and their bodily secretions, I halted the spoon that was halfway up to my mouth and then put it down again, suddenly not so hungry anymore. Instead I scooped some onto the spoon and held it towards Jhanna.

"Wanna taste some?" She shook her head at me with a small smile and a raised hand.

"No, I'm good, thank you." I nodded and put the spoon down again. After that, the air got a bit tense around us and we just sat there in silence. She sat with her back against the glass and her legs pulled up to her chest, eyes on the floor, playing a little with her long hair, and I tried to think of something to say.

My eyes fell on the long scar that ran across her entire face from the left eyebrow to the right cheek. It was slightly red, but looked like it had been there for years. I bit my lip. This felt like something that wasn't my business and that I shouldn't ask her about. But I was a bit curious and wanted to know. I looked around in the room and tried to think of something other than her scar, but still ended up turning back to Jhanna. And in the light of the stars, moons and planets outside the window, and in her more causal clothing, I saw how pretty she was, with her green slanted eyes, long blue hair and relaxed countenance.

"Uh, Jhanna, can I ask you something? If it's not too, you know, personal?" She turned back to me and nodded slightly. I bit my tongue and licked my lips, trying to think of a good way to say it without coming across as insensitive or disrespectful. "Um, how did you... you know..." I looked up at her, and now I saw that she was getting suspicious and turning back to that cold and reserved girl she was when I first met her. I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling both sweaty and cold at the same time, and then I decided to just say it.

"I-I was just wondering how you got that scar." I prepared myself for the worst, and she immediately got defensive, placing her hand over her scar and glaring at me with the same cold eyes she had when she caught me planning to steal when we first met.

"That's none of your-" She started to yell at me, then stopped herself and just sighed, slumping back against the glass behind her. Her cold glare melted away just as quickly as it had showed up and she suddenly looked defeated for some reason. I placed my hand on her shoulder and tried to be understanding, even though I didn't understand anything at all.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. It's none of my business, anyway." She shook her head and wrapped her arms around her knees.

"No, it's okay. I'm fine." She took a deep breath and insisted on not looking me in the eyes. She suddenly seemed so small and weak, like a little kid that had tried to look tough and then was finally forced to let down her defenses once her young mind finally realized that the behavior wasn't warranted. "I- I was about eight years old, maybe nine. I had been training to become a warrior for Federation for about a year and a half and I was pretty good at it. I had a hard time getting along with my father, but it wasn't too much of an issue; I just talked to my mother instead if I had a problem." She took another breath, swallowed and then kept talking.

"But then, one day, Moriah and I were with our father in the training room. He had us do that sometimes to make sure we took our training seriously. And that day he talked about what it takes to be a part of the Federation, about how we had to be ready to whatever it took to win, even if meant stooping so low as to kill innocent creatures, on different planets. We had to abandon any sense of honour we had, just to make sure we got what he wanted in the end." She brushed her hair out of her face and her voice became a bit shaky.

"He then brought in this small, weak little alien that had been taken off the streets, and told us to kill him. A-and I felt like I couldn't agree on this. I stood up and started protesting, loudly and disrespectfully, and then helped the poor alien escape from the room before any of the guards or my father could stop me. He started to yell at me. And I yelled back, about how it was wrong to hurt aliens that had done me no wrong and that I would never kill." She swallowed again and her arms tightened their hold around her knees.

"I had never seen him so angry. I mean, I had always questioned him and had broken the rules a lot of times, but he had never gotten that angry. T-then he told the guards to hold me, and before I could react and run away, they grabbed me and held me so tightly I wasn't able to escape." Her voice suddenly got colder, more cynical, sarcasm oozing from her mouth like seeping venom.

"And my dear, beloved daddy took my sister's sword, raised it over his head and slashed me across the face with it." As she spoke, I was knocked over the head with how terrible of a father- let alone a living creature- General Blanque truly was. To hear that he had had his soldiers hold his own daughter against her will so that he could slash her across the face with a sword was just gut wrenching. I doubt even Shredder would do something so awful to Karai, and he was an insane man.

Jhanna was a little misty-eyed, like she was about to cry, and she still managed to keep her voice pretty steady throughout her story. "I remember that it hurt like Hellfire, and that I dropped my knees, crying in pain and anger and betrayal over the fact that my own father had hurt me like this. And then he just left me and told Moriah to come with him. I remember looking up at her, blood oozing down my face as I asked her for help. And she just looked at me and turned her back on me. I couldn't believe it. Everyone just left the room, leaving me bleed like there was no tomorrow and with tears running down my face." She pressed her face into her knees, probably so I wouldn't be able to see her cry.

I felt this horrible battle inside of me as to which emotion to feel- I couldn't seem to settle on one, so I was just numb. I could list all the things I was supposed to be feeling, and some things ended up leaking through after a little investigating. Compassion and pity for a little girl who had only stood up for a defenceless alien and what she believed in, and had ended up getting, both literally and figuratively, scarred for life because of it. And disgust and hatred towards the father who both ordered the men to hold her, and held the sword, and the sister who wouldn't help her little sister off the floor.

Jhanna looked up from her knees and wiped her hands over her face. "I learned two things that day. One, compassion and defending other aliens would get me nowhere. And that the only one you should look after is yourself." I put the bowl off to the side without looking away from her for a second, and tried to look her in the eyes.

"...And two?" She sighed and lowered her head, making her hair cover most of her face, and tightened her grip around her knees.

"I learned just how cruel, heartless and unsympathetic the world, and my own family, could be. And that the only way to survive in this world is to be cold and heartless as well. I also decided to not let myself become a pushover and follow my father's orders, like he hoped I would do with his actions. He refused to let me train anymore, so I started to train in secret, and I sneaked out the house more times than I should to learn everything I needed to know in order to take care of myself. I've always had to take care of myself, and I always told myself that compassion and looking out for others would just end up getting you killed or in trouble." She got quiet, and for the first time since she started telling her story, she turned to look me in the eyes.

"That is... until I met you." Her voice was so small and meek, nothing like the 'tough as nails' girl I had gotten to know over the past month, and I felt like I had been punched in the gut. Suddenly things finally started to make sense. Her cold demeanor, her distrust towards others, her confusion when I helped her with Gruel back at the prison. She had grown up into a bitter, lonely girl who been taught that you would only get hurt by trusting or helping others. And then a complete stranger shows up and shakes everything she's ever known around, leaving her confused and slightly humbled.

"So... that's why you wanted to leave D'hoonib? To get away from your father and your family? To finally be on your own and not have to deal with everything at home?" I heard my voice crack and it was barely above a whisper, but she heard. She nodded and some of her hair fell over her face again.

"Yeah. I tried to find a way off the planet for the last three years, but every single time I got caught." She tried to smile, though it didn't reach her eyes, and tried to laugh. "Strategy has never been my strong suit." I gave her a wry smile, but still felt that I should say or do something. This was a side of Jhanna I hadn't seen yet, and I wasn't sure how to handle it. But then I remembered that Jhanna was, in a way, similar to Raph. Strong, passionate, hot-tempered and not very comfortable with showing emotions. So when he finally decided to show them, the best thing you could do was just show that you took his feelings seriously and give him a shoulder to lean on. Maybe I could do the same here with Jhanna?

I carefully reached my hand out and placed it on her knee. "Jhanna, I understand that life can treat you like a doormat. Trust me, I do. But whatever you choose to do with your life, you have to remember that you are who choose to be, not what anyone else tries to make you." She looked up from the floor and up at me in surprise, like this wasn't what she'd expected me to say. Then she looked down for a second before smirking at me.

"So what about you? You don't talk much about your home, yet you're so determined to save it. Sense of duty, or what?" I was taken aback by her response. She clearly tried to cover up her emotions and act as if nothing had happened, which in itself wasn't so weird, more the fact that she did it so quickly. I pulled my hand away and shifted around so I sat beside her with my shell against the glass.

"Well, no, not really. I mean, it _is_ my home. And if I don't try to save it, billions upon billions of people will die because of the Triceratons' vendetta." I took a breath. I had to say it. Even though I had no reason to tell her anything about my family, I felt like I owed her that much after she revealed a story like that. "Besides, I still have to get home to my family. My father, my brothers… they probably think I'm dead. Besides, I miss home." She gazed at me with a tad more sympathy and brushed her hair out of her face.

"You really miss them, don't you? Your family, I mean." I nodded and wrapped my arms around my knees, copying her posture. She bit her lip, resuming eye contact.

"Tell me about them." I felt my blood freeze and my heart stopped beating for a second. Tell her about my family? No, no… I didn't want to think about them. I wanted to be positive, not depressed, and I would only become more depressed thinking about them. Besides, I didn't even know if I could forgive them yet, after so many years of being treated like a doormat. But after she had shared such a personal story with me, it didn't seem right to not tell her about something personal from my side. I took a deep breath and placed the back of my head against the glass.

"Well, I have three brothers, two older and one younger. There's also my father, Hamato Yoshi, or Master Splinter, as we call him. He took us in when we were mere infants and has taken care of us for almost sixteen years now. He's a strong, wise, and caring father, but he's also a stern and serious teacher. He's taught us ninjutsu ever since before we could walk so we could defend ourselves as we grew older. He'd do anything to protect us, and he's said more than once that we're all he has left. He's the best father we could ever ask for, and he'd never hurt us unless we needed to be punished. But that's it.

"Leonardo, or Leo, is the oldest one of us and Master Splinter made him the leader of our team. He always looks out for us and he would sacrifice himself if it meant we would all live. He's strong, wise and the most skilled in ninjutsu out of us four. He's also the closest to our father. He's really protective and cautious, sometimes too much so, but he means well.

"Raphael- or Raph, for short- is the second oldest, and there was a debate when we were younger about whether we were twins or not. But I digress. He's the strongest and most physical out of us. He also has a hot temper, and he's a true warrior. He's not stupid, but he rarely uses his brain and likes to rush into things without thinking anything through. He often yells at us, hits us and beats us up every now and then. But he's also highly protective and would sacrifice his life any day in battle just to protect us. He acts like a bully pretty often, but he has a soft side and he would never do anything that would risk our lives. He loves us and would do anything for us, even if he'd rather be caught dead than actually admit it.

"And Mikey, well... Michelangelo is probably the most spontaneous out of all of us, and there are plenty of times when I wish I knew what was going on inside of his head. He's wild, optimistic, and he's very, very random. He's also a little scatterbrained and might come across as stupid, but I know him well enough to see that he can learn and he's smart. He just has hard time focusing on things. He's the youngest, and acts more childlike than any of us, but he can also be serious and mature when he needs to be. Mikey's the most affectionate and loving and never hesitates to give a hug or do anything he could to make any one of us feel better when we're sad or upset. He has the most talent out of us, too, but he lacks the focus to fully achieve his full potential in training. But he's still really good at fighting- in his own style, of course. He's sweet, kind, and compassionate, if not a typical little brother sometimes."

As I spoke about my father and tried to praise my brothers, I felt myself smile and I felt that, the more I talked about the good things about them, the more I understood how much I really loved them. Jhanna just sat there and I knew I had her full attention. Once I stopped speaking, she just looked at me, a soft smile pulling at the corners of her mouth.

"Your brothers, your father... they all sound wonderful." I nodded and smiled to myself, looking away and feeling more and more relaxed.

"Yeah, they are." But then I started remembering how they had treated me, and my smile fell, the warm feeling in my belly going away. But before I could say anything, Jhanna interrupted. She sighed and leaned back against the glass, one sleeve on her t-shirt falling off her shoulder and hanging down on her arm a bit.

"Humph; it sure must be nice to have a family that actually cares about you instead of shunning you, treating you like you're a criminal, or waiting for you to start a fight or sabotage everything." She folded her arms over her chest and sounded a bit bitterer towards the end of the sentence. I looked at her again and thought over her words. I sighed and wrapped my arms tighter around my knees.

"Just because people only know or see one side of you doesn't mean that's the only thing you have to give." Jhanna brushed some hair behind her ear and looked away from me, down at the floor.

"But they never want to listen, or to take the time to actually see who you truly are." I picked up my discarded bowl of ice cream and started to just play with the spoon in the green and brown sludge.

"It's like you have no say in who you are, and what you're gonna do with your life. Everyone around you always seems to try and live it for you, or come up with a plan of their own for who you're gonna be." She frowned and looked both upset and crestfallen.

"You're just not allowed to be who you really are."

"And if you complain, they always find ways to make it look like you're in the wrong for saying what you feel."

"It's like you can't escape from it."

"It's a never ending circle."

"It's just like..."

"You're just..."

"Trapped..."

Once we realized we'd said the last word at exactly the same time, we looked up at each other, and in her eyes I could see we had thought of the same thing and talked about problems that were very similar to the other one's. She looked at me and smiled wryly, and I returned it with as much genuine kindness as I could, despite how awkward I felt. We sat there in silence for a while before Jhanna stood up and yawned.

"Well, I'm going back to bed. We'll arrive at Filione tomorrow- gotta be well rested." I nodded and swallowed some more of my -now mostly melted- ice cream before a thought entered my mind.

"Hey, Jhanna?" She turned around before she walked through the door and looked back at me. I smiled at her, and this time it didn't feel awkward anymore. "If no one in your family cared about you, Starlee wouldn't have disobeyed your father to save you from the Triceratons." She looked at me and then down at the floor, as if that thought hadn't struck her. Hey eyes darted from side to side and she had a slightly raised eyebrow, and then she looked up at me again and gave me a small smile.

"Yeah, I guess. Uh, anyway, goodnight, D." She turned around and the door closed behind her. D? Huh, maybe she had a thing for nicknames. I quickly swallowed the last of my ice cream and went to the food replicator, where I placed the bowl in one hatch so it could be washed by tomorrow. When I was done with that, I walked to my own bedroom so I could go back to bed, just as Jhanna had done.

Once I lay down on my bed and let my head rest on the thick, comfy pillows and pulled the covers up to my chin, I realized that I didn't feel depressed anymore. If anything, I felt better now that I had talked to Jhanna. And even though I hadn't told her everything, or even why I was so depressed earlier today, I still felt like I'd emptied my emotional tank a bit, and that my talking about my family had also helped a bit. Maybe that was all I needed? To have someone to talk to about them, or about how I felt? Well, I hadn't said everything, but I didn't think I needed to. The way she and I had talked in sync like that may have been enough for her to understand.

And for now, I felt like I was gonna be fine. No matter what was gonna happen in the future.

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 **A/N: And it's done! I've wanted to write this for so long, 'cause I wanted to get to a bit more of Jhanna's backstory and I wanted to keep the scar as something important and not just something I added for decoration for her. And I wanted them to spend some time together just talking, just the two of them, after all they've been through during the past month.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	31. Chapter 30, Breakfast Conversations

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Oh, I am so late! I guess I'm so caught up in my 'real' life that I'm getting distracted. And, on a more positive side, thank you guys so much for the 102 reviews! You guys are so awesome, and I love all of you for reading this story and leaving your kind words in your reviews!**

 **I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

* * *

Chapter 30: Breakfast Conversations

As I woke up the next morning I already knew that I had slept in late- something I usually didn't do. I was normally one the first ones in my family to wake up and the last one to go to bed. Yeah, I was a bit of a night owl and didn't usually sleep past nine, but I guess that happens when you stay up late and eat sugar in the middle of the night.

I got out of bed, feeling much better than I had yesterday and the welcomed feelings of optimism and excitement were running through my body. People around me, mostly consisting of my brothers, my father, and April, told me that I was a very optimistic person whenever I would fail at, say, creating retromutagen, and I would bounce back almost immediately and keep trying, so that was nothing new. But I was excited, because today we were going through that wormhole that would take us to Filione. And who knew what kind of adventures we could face there? But I was also a little scared. This was an entirely different planet with so many different things and creatures. And what kind of dangers might lurk in those woods on that planet?

"Oh, man," I mumbled to myself as I tied my mask over my face. "What I have gotten myself into?" I sighed to myself. I just hoped the Salamandarians were as friendly as Mona Lisa had said they were yesterday.

I walked over to the drawer where my spacesuit was folded and my gear was placed in a neat stack. I reached out to grab one of my knee pads, but I glanced over at the suit that I'd only worn once, maybe twice, since I got it. I thought over whether I should put it on, but then decided not to. This seemed more like a suit you wore outside of the ship, not inside. Besides, Jhanna had picked out clothes for herself inside this ship, too, so she wouldn't have to wear this suit all the time, so why should I wear mine when I didn't even wear clothes at all?

The dining room was empty when I stepped in through the doors, which surprised me, since it felt like it was past nine in the morning. Starlee or Traximus seemed to be early risers, just like me, since they had woken up just a little later than me every other day. Even the Professor at the very least should be up by now, since he didn't even need sleep. But, whatever- it was always a little nice to get some alone time.

When we were kids, my brothers- mostly Mikey, but all of them seemed to think so, too- seemed to have a mindset that if you like to be alone, there must be something wrong with you, since they always liked to play together. So when I said I wanted to read a book, play around with broken toys and try to fix them or just be by myself, they would give me weird looks as if I had a screw loose. And, as we grew older, and they wanted to spend some time on their own as well, they still seemed to cling onto this belief. I remember an incident about five or six months ago- I had found an old, thin and tattered book in the sewers. I had decided to give it a read, and I had been glued to it ever since I found it.

 _(Flashback)_

 _I was sitting on one of the corners of the couch with the book in my lap and my eyes glued to the words, unable to look away. It was just so intriguing, even though it was the sixth time I had read it. And when I was reading a good book, it was like entering another world- nothing could break that bubble of tranquility around me._

 _Except, of course I have three brothers, one of them having the talent of being excruciatingly loud and obnoxious when I really, really didn't want him to._

 _"Hey, Donnie!" I yelped and dropped the book in shock as Mikey screamed inches away from my ear. I looked up and saw Mikey sitting on his knees beside me, only a few inches away, with a big grin on his face. "Finally you respond, bro! I called your name, like, ten times, and it was like you didn't hear me." I fought the urge to roll my eyes, picked up the book and glared at Mikey in annoyance._

 _"What do you want, Mikey? I told you, I didn't steal your disgusting excuse of a pizza." Mikey shook his head and pushed the book down before I could get a chance to pick up where I left off in the story._

 _"I'll have you know that jelly beans, pepperonis and maple syrup are the best pizza toppings EVER! But no, dude, it's not about that! I found out that I ate it in my sleep last night. Heh, weird, right?" I wrinkled my nose at him, marked the page I was on and closed the book._

 _"Ugh... Mikey, I love you, bro. You have many great attributes. But seriously, you need to understand that it's disgusting to keep pizza around in your room and eat it whenever you feel like it." Mikey just shrugged, still smiling at me, and didn't seem to care that I called his habits disgusting._

 _"Whatever, dude. I wanna play video games!" I looked at him, confused, and raised an eyebrow. Okay, then why wasn't he doing that?_

 _"Uh... Then go play video games. Nobody's stopping you, and no one's watching TV." I opened the book again and tried to resume reading, but once again, Mikey pushed the book down, making me look up at him once more._

 _"No! It's no fun to play alone! Come on, bro, play with me! I'll even let you win once if you." I tried not lose my temper, since I knew Mikey just wanted to spend time with me, but it was hard since he was really getting on my nerves._

 _"Uh, thanks, but no thanks. I'm reading. Go ask Raph or Leo to play with you instead." I looked away from him and looked down at the book again, hoping that he would take the hint and leave to go and bother somebody else. But, of course, that was too much to ask for._

 _"Aw, come on, Donnie! Please! Raph keeps cheating and making me lose, and Leo's no fun to play with. He never gets as into it as I do. Please, bro. You've been working in your lab nonstop for weeks! And now you've finally taken a break, you decide to read a book- something that you could do anytime else? Read when you go to bed! The day is for fun, not reading science-y stuff! Come on, live a little, dude! Have some fun for a change." I looked up from the book, for umpteenth time, and over at Mikey._

 _"I have fun, Mikey. I enjoy reading and I enjoy working on my projects. I wouldn't do it if I didn't enjoy it. Besides, if I'm not mistaken, I played Flipper with you yesterday for two and a half hours. And I'll have you know that this is not a science book. Not everything I do has to do with science-y stuff, you know." Mikey frowned at me, but before he could say anything, another voice joined the conversation._

 _"Oh, yeah? Let me see that book." Suddenly a green hand from the right entered my view and snatched the book away from me, so quickly yet so sneakily that I almost didn't catch it._

 _"Hey!" I flew up from the couch and looked behind me and saw Raph there with my book in his hand and that big, smug, stupid smirk on his face, waving the book teasingly at me._

 _"Raph! Come on, give me back my book!" Raph just smirked at me, opened the book and flipped through the pages. Carelessly, almost as if he expected himself to destroy it somehow and didn't care._

 _"I've seen you glued to this book since you found it in the sewers. If you like so much, and it's not about science, then what is it about?" He closed it again and started to read on back of the book, aloud and in an exaggerated and high-pitched voice._

 _"Carrie White is clumsy in gym class, she dresses strangely and never gets the joke. She's odd and has been bullied for all of her school period." I jumped over the couch and tried to snatch it back from my older brother, but he just took a big step away from me just as I was about to grab it from him._

 _"Give it back, Raph!" Raph just ignored me and it seemed like he had eyes on the back of his head, 'cause it seemed like he always seemed to know where I was, even though he was reading the back of the book._

 _"But Carrie has hidden powers that nobody knows of: by concentrating she can make mirrors crack and doors lock themselves." I growled at him and tried to pounce him and snatch it away, but he just kept on dodging and avoided my attempts to get the book back._

 _"Raph, come on, stop it! Give it back!" He placed his hand on my chest and pushed me away from him, keeping me an arm's length away from him and the book as he read the backside._

 _"This strange gift has to be suppressed, as so much else in her life. Carrie's highly religious mother tells her that this ability is a sin and that her power comes from the Devil." He looked up at me, face twisted both in surprise and a mocking smirk._

 _"Aw, you like to read girly high school drama books, Donnie? Are ya gonna check out Twilight or The Notebook next, or what? Seriously, how can you read this junk?" I finally managed to snatch the book back, pressed it to my chest and folded my arms over it._

 _"It is NOT a girly high school drama! And it's NOT junk! It's an engaging and interesting read about bullying, revenge, guilt and sin, just to name a few of this book's themes! But what would you know of good literature, Raph? What do you like to read? Comic books and your old Modern Ninja Magazine? I wouldn't exactly call that great literature, you know." Raph rolled his eyes at me, grabbed me around the neck and gave me a rough noogie to the temple._

 _"Heh, sure I do, but those are magazines and comics that anyone can enjoy. The books you read can only be read and enjoyed by nerds like you, Donnie. That or really lonely people." I jerked away from his grip around my neck and glared at him with a raised brow._

 _"Are you saying that I have bad taste in books? Or that I'm a lonely, desperate person?" He snorted at me and sat down on the couch beside Mikey, rested his arms on the back of the couch and looked up at me teasingly._

 _"Heh, no, I'm saying that I don't understand why Mikey wants to play games with you, since you, for whatever reason, enjoy being alone with your books and experiments. I mean, how can anyone enjoy being alone for hours without having something wrong with you?" I growled at him, rolled my eyes and turned my back on him._

 _"Urgh, you are such a jerk." I muttered to myself and started walking towards my room so I could read in there, alone and in peace and with no brothers to disturb me. But before I could close the door behind me, I could hear Raph yell after me._

 _"You better be careful, Brainiac! You might get stuck with your nose in one of your books!" I growled again and slammed the door shut, blocking out any source of sound from the living room, or my brother's sneering laugh._

 _(End Flashback)_

I rolled my eyes at the memory with a small smile. There were times when I could look back upon a memory and decide whether I thought it was my brothers being rude, dismissive or uncaring, and other where I could see it was just playful banter or us just being brothers. 'Cause, let's face it, when you have brothers, you get into petty arguments, disagreements or small, meaningless fights. If you couldn't deal with that, chances are you would have a hard time handling conflict in the real world, or just surviving in your family. And this particular fight, if you could even call it that, was just one of many disagreements I had with Raph. Yes, we had very different opinion about things. Doesn't mean I hold every single harsh word he says to me against him.

I walked over to the food replicator and sat down. The plug appeared the minute I sat down and placed itself onto my forehead. I started thinking up a good breakfast, and I decided that today, I would really try to do better in training and be in better mood than I had yesterday. And to do that, I needed a big breakfast. And besides, no one was here to try and steal or grab any of the good stuff before I could get what I wanted. I made up my mind and focused on the meal I had in mind.

Seconds later the hatch opened and revealed a plate with two pieces of toast with ham and cheese and another plate with some fried eggs and bacon on the side, a small bowl of strawberries, a mug with steaming coffee with cream and a glass of orange juice. It was a bit of a challenge to balance it all across the room without dropping anything, but I managed and sat down at one of the tables. Then I looked back out to the ship's control room and decided to eat in there instead. I would feel better if I could keep an eye on where we were and if any threats came close to us.

Once I managed to balance everything out into the control room and sit down at the main computers, I started to look over the distance between us and the wormhole, as well as other factors, like fuel and the cloak we had activated, and took a bite out of my toast.

"Mm, okay, so the cloak is still up? That's good, that's good. Should keep Moriah off our tail for a while. And how long is it until we reach that wormhole?" I pressed around on the computers and sipped down some coffee and ate some more of my toast.

"Okay, we're less than three hours away from there. Good, we're still on course. That's good." I looked around on the computer screens and swallowed some eggs and bacon. "... and from the looks of it there's no obstacles in our way." I doubled-checked the coordinates, checked the speed and decreased it from sixteen to fourteen, and uncloaked the ship so we could spare fuel. I smiled to myself in content, leaned back in my seat and allowed myself to relax. This was really nice. No Triceratons and no Federation trying to get in the way of what my friends and I had to do. I sipped some more coffee and finished on the ham and cheese toast, moving on to the second piece.

I took a good, long look out the ship's big window and just relaxed. Jhanna had said last night that she found looking at the stars relaxing, and I had to admit, there was something very calming and soothing to just watch the stars and planets we passed. And to just watch it all and eat my breakfast alone and in silence was really nice.

Suddenly I heard one of the doors open and I turned around to see who had entered the room. Starlee came walking in with her nose stuck in a book and she had a plate in one of her hands with some sort of sandwich on it, a glass of a light green milk-like substance, and something that looked like a muffin. Maybe on D'hoonib cupcakes were more healthy than on Earth, or maybe it was a common breakfast where she came from. She was dressed in her Federation uniform, her hair was down and she had her goggles over her eyes.

I turned around to look at her and smiled. "Good morning, Starlee." She looked up from her book and smiled at me, pushing up her goggles onto her forehead and smiling widely at me- so widely that I could see the dimples in her freckled cheeks."Hi! Good morning." I smiled back at her and drank some of my juice. I really found myself taking a liking to Starlee. She was really sweet, kind and incredibly smart for her age. But on top of that; she reminded me of Mikey, with her happy and optimistic nature and that she almost always seemed to smile and also was very compassionate. And while it was a little painful at times it still helped too. It helped me feel like part of Mikey was here, in spirit.

She came up and sat down beside me, removing her goggles and closing her book, putting it aside and placing her plate in her lap.

"Is anybody else awake?" I shook my head and swallowed some more egg and juice.

"I don't think so. I haven't seen or heard anyone else get up." She nodded at me and took a bite out of her own sandwich and drank some of her milk, or whatever it was, looking out the window. I looked over at the book she had placed beside her on the seat, and saw that the title was in a different language, so I figured it was a book she had gotten from home or maybe this ship might have a room with books just like it had clothes in some of them. She brushed some of her hair out of her face and smiled at me.

"Are you feeling better today?" I was pulled out of my thoughts and looked up at Starlee. Her eyes and face were smiling, but I could also see that she was concerned, and her voice was a tad softer than it had been when she talked to me a second ago. I nodded at her and tried to look reassuring.

"Oh, yes, much better. Thank you." She smiled wider, showing her white teeth, and her dimples appeared again. She was really cute. I mean, Jhanna was also good-looking, but she was leaning more towards pretty than cute. Starlee just looked adorable. I could imagine her as a blonde, blue-eyed girl if she lived on Earth, looking kinda like Mikey. The only difference was that he was a turtle and she was an... uh, some humanoid alien, I guess.

"How far from the wormhole are we?" I looked over the computers and then back at her again after checking our location.

"About 29.85 light-hours away from the wormhole. We'll be there in less than three hours." She took a bite out of the muffin and nodded. She had a big smile on her face and her eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Oh, this is so exciting! I can't wait to see what Filione is like! And to go through that wormhole! It feels like we're gonna, you know, z-z-zoom-" she made gestures with her arms, as if her hands were the ship, and she tried to make it look like it was going through the wormhole, "right off into the unknown, and we have no idea where we're gonna end up then." I couldn't help but smile at her exaggerated gestures, her excited eyes and her big smile, but at the same time I felt nervous. She was right; we had no idea what we were going to find on the other side of that wormhole, and that was a pretty daunting thought.

"I think it's a bit more like diving into a lake from a bridge without checking for sharp rocks at the bottom. Or if the water's deep enough." Starlee looked at me with a raised brow, then smirked cockily at me and nudged me in the side with her elbow.

"What, are you scared? Didn't think you were that kind of alien." I rolled my eyes at her and sipped my coffee, looking out the window again. In the corner of my eye I saw that Starlee was eyeing me curiously, and also appearing to be a little confused. Then she shrugged it off and started to eat her own breakfast. I looked out the window, eyeing every star with interest. So many different stars that no one on Earth had ever seen. I turned to Starlee, who was chewing on some of her food, looking out the window, and her thoughts seemed to someplace else.

"Have you ever been to Filione before?" She turned to look at me, her smile fading from her face, and she looked down at the floor for moment before looking up again, trying to smile.

"Well, no. I've... I've never been off D'hoonib before. In fact, to tell you the truth, I've never really left my house before." I choked on my coffee and looked at her, wide-eyed. For me, a turtle born on Earth- where space travel was still relatively new- it made sense why I had never been off my own planet. But Starlee? She seemed like a smart, responsible girl, so why hadn't she been let out of her own home?

"What? Really? But your planet's inhabitants have been traveling to other planets for a long time, right? So why wouldn't you be free to do as you wish? I mean, would it be so bad to just run down to the market?" She shrugged her shoulders and shook her head, showing that she didn't know.

"I don't know. I've never known why. Dad would never tell me. He just told me it was for my own good and safety. I've just always kinda assumed that he didn't want me to get hurt in the war we're trying to fight off. That he was just an overprotective father. But I have always dreamed of seeing other worlds and affecting them for the better! To leave a mark on other planets, showing how good the Federation is!" Her words made me halt and look at her curiously. The Federation, _good_? I started to get the idea that her father, General Blanque- who had slashed his own daughter across the face with a sword- might not have told his _other_ daughter the entire story of what the Federation actually was. But I decided not to say anything, tried to shrug it off and took a bite out of my toast.

"Well, I can relate to having an overprotective parent. My father wouldn't let me and my brothers go out and see the world until we turned fifteen." She started to look at me with a strange look in her eyes, as if she was trying to call my bluff or was curious about something and was attempting to figure it out. I tried not to be bothered by her looking at me like that, but it was hard not to eye her back a little. My eyes slid over to her every other second, but I always tried to catch myself before she caught me- although I'm sure she did anyway. She licked her lips and played a little with a strand of her hair.

"Uh, Donnie?" I looked over at her and she stopped fiddling with her hair. Her eyes narrowed in confusion and she looked both cautious and curious at the same time, as if she wanted to ask me something, but was scared that she might offend me by doing so. I put my mug down and turned to face her, smiling reassuringly.

"Yeah? What is it?" She bit her lower lip for a second and then looked me straight in the eyes, taking a deep breath.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but… what are you?" I was taken aback a little, and I have to admit, I hadn't expected her to ask me that. Now, I'm not saying that I was offended or anything, but still. I had expected more of a question about why I was so depressed yesterday, or about my family or something like that.

"Well, I'm..." I couldn't help but laugh a little at the question. "Heh, I'm a turtle. A mutated turtle. Don't you have reptiles on D'hoonib? Or, you know, aliens like me?" She shook her head at this and frowned slightly.

"No. I mean, yes, we do, but not exactly like yours. We have different kinds of lizards and other reptilians on D'hoonib, but not with shells on their backs or with the kind of weapons and gear you have. So, what kind of reptile are you?" I sucked on my lips and bit down on them. Should I tell her? It would be easier, but at the same time, could I give away such a personal family story to someone who was only a little more than a stranger? I hadn't even told Jhanna that story, and I had known her for almost two months. I sighed and turned to Starlee again.

"Okay, you might as well hear the whole story. It'll make much more sense that way." She nodded, moved a little closer to me and smiled widely, resting her chin in one hand and her elbow on the control panel. I took a deep breath and leaned back in my seat. Here goes nothing.

"Well, about fifteen or sixteen years ago, a man named Hamato Yoshi lived in the land of Japan. He was born and raised in family of ninjas, and was trained to become a ninja as well. A warrior of the night and a master of stealth and honour. Anyway, he grew up with an adopted brother from the enemy clan, and they were the best of friends. That is, until a young woman named Tang Shen entered their lives and they both fell in love with her. And eventually, she choose to marry Yoshi and they both had a lovely baby daughter together." Starlee smiled gently and her eyes sparkled slightly.

"Aw, that's so romantic. So sweet." I smiled and nodded a little. What Tang Shen and Yoshi had when they were together must've been special. The kind of true love that I read about in my books back home, and the stories we were told as kids. Then Starlee frowned a little and lowered her arm, removing her hand from her chin. "But what does that have to do what you are?" I raised my hand slightly and tried to smile.

"I'll get to that. Anyway, his brother, Oroku Saki, got insanely jealous of Tang Shen falling for Yoshi instead of him. And that jealousy eventually turned into hatred. And one night, he struck. Eh, I'll spare you the details of what happened that night; it's not exactly a happy story, but to sum it all up, Yoshi survived the night but lost his wife and daughter." Starlee gasped quietly and covered her mouth with her hand.

"That's terrible! What a horrible man Oroku Saki must have been. But what happened next?" I took a strawberry out of the small bowl on my plate and nibbled on it.

"Well, Yoshi didn't have much to live for in Japan after what happened, so he moved away to America, to the city of New York. He intended to start a new life for himself and try to escape Saki's wrath- since he knew Saki would try to kill him if he knew he was still alive. And, one day, he walked into a pet store and bought four baby turtles to care for." Her eyes widened in realisation, but I could see she didn't have the answers to all of her questions, so I kept going.

"On the way home, he bumped into a very strange man on the street. And, sensing that something was off about him, Yoshi decided to follow him. I should mention that it was a Kraang, hiding in a human-looking robot body, but Yoshi didn't know this at the time. No one on Earth knew anything of the Kraang at the time. Anyway, they were dealing with a canister full of strange glowing ooze that caught his interest. But then he stepped on a rat and the Kraang noticed that he was spying on them. And while Yoshi tried to defend himself and the turtles, the canister flew out of the Kraang's hands and hit Yoshi and the turtles. He mutated into a giant humanoid rat and the turtles mutated into humanoid turtles." Starlee finally managed to catch on and pointed at me with a smile, but mostly a both surprised and eager expression.

"So, you are a byproduct of a Kraang experiment? You were small, a normal little turtle, but then got genetically modified into a half-reptile, half-humanoid hybrid, due to the ooze fusing the DNA of Yoshi and your own." I couldn't help but laugh at how impressed and eager she sounded and nodded.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. We were all in a freak accident that changed our lives completely. Yoshi renamed himself Splinter and took us all under his wing, taught us everything we know about fighting and being a warrior and has been our father for the last fifteen, almost sixteen, years. He gave us names, he fed us, changed us and raised us, giving himself and us a new life. If he hadn't been there, we probably would have ended up in a lab as experiments. He gave us a home and loved us as his own flesh and blood. We're probably the strangest family on earth." Starlee smiled and looked me over, as if I was a sample or an experiment she was studying.

"Wow, that's so fascinating! I mean, I've heard about the Kraang and their mutagen, but to see someone who's been affected by the genetic alterations it causes? It's just amazing! And your father sounds amazing, too." I smiled, and nodded at her with a small laugh.

"Yeah, he is. He's the best father any of us could ever ask for. He's always been there for us when we needed him." My smile faded a little and I looked away from Starlee for a second. "Or at least he used to be." I muttered to myself and then looked back at Starlee again. But the smile on her face had disappeared from her face and the look in her eyes changed.

"But wait... If you're here, and Yoshi- I-I mean Splinter, and those other turtles are on your home planet, doesn't that mean that... You know, that they don't know you're here? That you're lightyears away from home, and your family?" I looked away and felt myself feeling saddened again. I sighed and shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess that's right. I mean, my family probably thinks I'm dead right now. I fell through a Kraang portal and ended up on your planet by sheer accident. In fact, if it wasn't for the Professor, I probably wouldn't have survived. So, yeah, they probably think I'm dead." I felt small tears start to form in my eyes and was quick to blink them away before they could fall or Starlee could see them. Then I felt her small, soft hand on my cheek and she made me look at her again. Her eyes were filled with sympathy, and I almost believed she would start crying for my sake.

"I'm so sorry for you. It must be horrible to so far away from your family and not be able to contact them at all. You must miss them so much." The tone in her voice and the fact that she looked ready to cry just from hearing my story left me flabbergasted. She showed more sympathy for me after talking to me for about ten minutes than my own brothers had the last year. I smiled lightly at her.

"Yeah, I do. But how did you know I can't contact them?" She removed her hand from my face and placed both hands in her lap.

"Well, I just assumed since you haven't used the ship's intergalactic contact system to get in contact with them; your planet doesn't have the technology to receive that kind of signal. I don't mean to insult your planet, I just sort of assumed that-" I shook my head and smiled reassuringly at her.

"No, no, it's okay. Earth doesn't have nearly as advanced technology as this ship alone has. And I did know about the contact system, just so you know." Starlee nodded awkwardly and looked away. She moved away a little bit and took her glass of milk, sipping it. I looked curiously at her food, and after a while, I couldn't help but ask, partly to get rid of the awkward air around us and partly because I was curious.

"What are you eating? I mean, what exactly is it?" Starlee looked up from her glass of milk, picked up the plate in front of her with her muffin and showed it a little better, and held up her half-full glass.

"Oh, this is a Vanerian muffin. They're a delicacy throughout the galaxy." She held up the glass a little. "And this is milk from D'hoonibian land whales. It's pretty common, everyone on my planet drinks it." I wrinkled my nose at that. Milk from a whale? Even if it was on land (which in itself was really strange)… I mean, I knew people drank milk from cows (duh!), goats, sheep, and even horses, but a whale? Urg, I guess every planet has its own taste. Starlee handed me the plate and the glass with a smile.

"Here, wanna taste some?" I jerked away a little as the strange food got closer to my face, but then thought it over a little. Maybe I needed to expand my horizons a little bit. I wouldn't exactly say that I'm closed-minded or anything- I try to be as open-minded as I can, given my position in life. I had always figured that I had no room to criticise or shun others for how they looked or what they were, and tried to give everyone the benefit of the doubt or at least give them a chance. But I had heard Master Splinter, Leo and sometimes Mikey say that I had a tendency to jump to conclusions sometimes. Like when I saw Casey with April for the first time and assumed they were on a date. It's nothing I'm proud of, but I can't help it. So I shrugged and took the plate and glass.

"Sure, why not?" I took the muffin and sniffed it. It smelled close to an ordinary muffin, and the small, pink/purple berries and pink frosting smelled okay, too. So I shrugged, swallowed any doubt or fear of the stuff tasting bad, and took a bite. And that second I felt my taste buds almost explode and immediately had to hold myself back from spitting it out again. Not because the taste was bad or anything, but the berries were so sour and the frosting was almost just as sour that it was a chore to force myself to swallow it. Since I had the glass of milk in the other hand, I quickly gulped down some of it and almost started to cough. Man, that milk was thick! Thicker than cream. A whole lot thicker- and also a pretty sweet. That made it a little hard to swallow.

"Are you okay?" Starlee took the plate and glass from me and put them aside, placing her hand on my shell, gently patting it as I coughed, trying to spit out the taste. I nodded the best I could and grabbed some of my juice and gulped half of the glass to both clear my throat and wash the sour berries and thick and sweet cream-like milk out of my mouth. Once I felt like my taste buds weren't dying, I looked up at the girl in front of me and tried to smile.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. It's just, _man_ , those berries were sour! And that milk- it was like drinking sweet yogurt, only thicker and so sweet it was nasty!" She looked at me as if I were crazy and raised any eyebrow at me, too.

"Sour? Well, yeah, what else did you expect? Berries are sour; that's the way it is." I shook my head and showed her my bowl of bright red strawberries.

"Not on Earth. If they're grown well, with plenty of sun, water and no toxic growth serums and other gardening stuff, they can taste really, really good." She looked over the red berries and, unlike Jhanna- who seemed disgusted with every new Earth dish I ate- she seemed pretty curious and more open-minded as to what my planet had to offer.

"Really?" I nodded and she looked up at me. "May I?" She pointed to one of the biggest ones and I understood what she meant, holding the bowl out for her to take.

"Sure! Take one, they're delicious." She hesitated for a moment, then took one of the strawberries, sniffed it and took a small nibble out the berry. Her eyes widened and she pulled her mouth away from it, almost is if it had burned her or something. Then she eyed the berry again and tried to take another bite. And this time, she seemed to welcome the taste a bit more.

"Mm, this is really good! I've never tasted a berry that was sweet before! Are there any more berries on your planet?" I nodded and put the bowl aside, taking a berry of my own and taking a bite.

"Sure, there're plenty! Blueberries, raspberries, black berries, cherries, grapes and gooseberries! And there's also a lot of really good fruit, like melons, pineapples, papaya, mango, kiwis and so much more! I could show you sometime." She smiled and swallowed the rest of the berry. She then swallowed the rest of her milk and grabbed the rest of her muffin.

"Well, I'm gonna go and take a shower. And you should probably get ready for your training session with Traximus, right?" I smiled at her as she left and looked over at my own breakfast. Only a little bit of my juice, some coffee and two strawberries left. I would have to finish this quickly or I would be late for my training session. I sighed and looked out the window at the stars we passed. This was, in a way, so very exciting! I couldn't wait to see what was on the other side of that wormhole, but dreaded what could be there as well.

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 **A/N: Well, that's a wrap! It was fun to write a bit of Starlee and Donnie interacting with each other and not just him and Jhanna, Traximus or the Professor. I also hope I gave her a good, convincing personality. And I am so looking forward to writing future chapters! Now we'll finally get to Filione soon!**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	32. Chapter 31, A leap into the unknown

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N:** **Alright, this chapter is the last before we finally land on Filione! And I have seen ideas on how to make it a great place with great characters. Can't wait to get there! But for now, let's travel through a wormhole with the gang! YAY!**

 **I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 31, A leap into the unknown

I limped out of the training dojo, gripping my arm in pain, my whole body sore from training and hitting the floor so many times. I was sure my shoulders and elbows would be black and blue after crushing them to catch my fall so many times; but whatever- nothing I couldn't handle. I guess you could say it had become a bit of a routine for me to always get my shell whipped in training every day. But, at the very least, today I had managed to stay on my feet most of the time and I had also managed to get a good hit on Traximus a few times, too. I couldn't help but feel good about myself for that, since that was the best I've done in training since we started doing this together. But, still, I had to admit that I was doing far less better here than I had done back home with Master Splinter and my brothers, and I was probably the black sheep of the family as far being a ninja goes. I had seen how Splinter looked at me when I failed at what my brothers did with ease. Like he was ashamed of me for being less athletic, gifted or as dedicated as my brothers. Like I was a failed ninja and child to him.

I shook my head to get rid of those thoughts and walked out of the dining and entertainment room, toward the shower room. The main room was empty, but when I entered the shower room I passed Mona Lisa as she left with a towel around her shoulders, her hair wet and clinging to her face and shoulders. When she saw me, her eyes widened and she immediately looked away from me, as if ashamed to look at me. Nothing new. Only this time she didn't look as disgusted or disinterested, just scared or ashamed. I looked after her as she walked towards the dining room, then shrugged it off and went to take a shower myself. I grabbed a bar of soap from one of the shelves and stepped into the shower booth, turning on the warm water and feeling my body relax as it washed over me. This was one of the best things on the entire ship, along with the food-replicator, the dojo and the huge beds. Being able to stand in a clean shower, with steaming hot water and dozens of bars of soap- a turtle could get used to that.

Once I felt clean and the sweat and soreness was gone- well, maybe not _gone_ , but I at least felt _less_ sore- I got out and dried myself quickly, placing the towel around my shoulders and walking out into the control room. The Professor was standing over at the computers, overlooking our distance and how far we had left to go. I approached him and wiped some water from my face with the back of my hand so I wouldn't wet the computers and destroy them.

"How far do we have left, Professor?" He looked up and smiled his robot smile at me. Despite his being a robot, he seemed to be a very emotional person. I guess that made sense, as he was a human before.

"Not far. We'll go through our first wormhole in about thirty minutes." Oh, that sentence alone made butterflies start to bounce around in my stomach, and I couldn't decide whether I should squeal in excitement or throw up because of my nervousness. I decided to do neither and act a bit more professional. I was on an important mission; I had to be more like an adult than a kid.

"Okay, that's good. Then I have time to get some lunch before we go through. Good job, Professor." I turned and stepped into the dining-slash-entertainment room, leaving the towel to dry on the railing in the control room that separated the shower and the dining rooms from the control room.

Starlee and Jhanna were already eating lunch when I came in, and seemed to be involved in some sort of conversation, but I couldn't hear what. They were talking quietly, and their voices were hushed, but I didn't really care. I didn't feel the need to know everything that was talked about on board this ship, and there were things going on here that didn't concern me.

I made myself a pizza, a small bowl of salad and glass of Coke and was about to sit down at the couch and eat alone, but before I could- "Hey, Donnie!" I looked up and saw Jhanna smile at me while Starlee waved me over. "Come over here- sit with us!" I was thrown off for possibly the umpteenth time since I got onboard. My brothers usually let me eat alone in my lab and had stopped trying to get me to eat with them by the time we were ten- and the few times I did eat with them, they acted like I wasn't there. I suppose that was partially my own fault, since I had chosen to stay in my lab for so long that they had given up on trying to reason with me and had gotten used to me not being there with them to eat, but still. It kinda hurts when your family acts like you're invisible.

I smiled at the girls, took my food and sat down at their table, feeling awkward and out of place as I did. Jhanna smiled kindly and took a bite out of her food- some kind of meat dish with some sort of potato-slash-mushroom-looking things.

"Hey. How long before we reach Filione?" I took a bite of my pizza and tried to act casual, as if it wasn't entirely new for me to eat with people because they wanted me to and talked to me like we were really close friends even though we weren't that close yet.

"Uh, about twenty-five minutes. No need to stress yet." She nodded and sipped some of her milk. Her _whale_ milk. Sorry, I still can't get over the fact that people drink milk from freaking _whales_ \- even if they aren't like the whales on my planet. Starlee ate a similar dish as her sister, only the 'potatoshrooms' were replaced with what looked like grilled carrot sticks- only they were dark purple, like red onions. She also had something that looked like cucumber chips, only a tad more turquoise than green. She nibbled on one of those carrot sticks and seemed to be in deep thought. Jhanna looked up at me again and swallowed some of her meat.

"So, how's your training going? Making any progress?" My smile faded into a small grimace and I shook my head with a frown on my face as I sipped on my Coke.

"No... Not today." I growled and rested my forehead against the inside of my wrist. "I just don't know what I'm doing wrong! I _want_ to train, I _want_ to become better at fighting and I _want_ to be able to take care of myself! So _why_ am I doing so terribly with Traximus? I was never this bad on Earth with Master Splinter, and I'm seen as the worst fighter in my family!" Starlee looked up for her food, wide-eyed and horrified.

"Your father said you were the worst fighter out of all of your brothers?! I thought you said he was the best father you could ask for!" I quickly shook my head and swallowed some pizza, grabbing another slice once the first was gone.

"Oh, no no no! He's never actually said that! It's just always been a fact. My brothers are more dedicated, stronger or more gifted than I am, so I've always been seen as the one who's the weakest. Everybody knows it. It's kind of an unspoken agreement." Jhanna looked up at me and placed her arm around my shoulders, giving me an encouraging smile.

"Well, whatever it is holding you back in training, I'm sure you'll be able to get over it soon. I've seen you fight in the holo-room and against other aliens in that prison and on D'hoonib. You are a fighter- you just have to bring all of it out." I smiled at her.

"Thanks, Jhanna. Glad to hear someone actually believes I can fight for myself." Her smile widened and she removed her arm from my shoulders. Then, of course, we sat in an awkward silence for a while, eating our food and sitting in our own thoughts, waiting for someone to start a conversation. I wanted to say something, but I couldn't think of anything good to say. But after a while, Jhanna looked up from her food again.

"What do you think Filione is like? Do you think it's peaceful like Mona says it is, or more hostile? I mean, she remembers a planet she lived on when she was younger. Things might have changed." I nodded and put a piece of chopped tomato in my mouth and swallowed.

"I don't know. It's possible, but if it's anything like D'hoonib or the Triceraton prison, then I hope Mona will be able to help us make the inhabitants understand that we're not their enemies. Besides, I wouldn't mind landing on a planet with creatures that aren't out to kill me." Jhanna nodded.

"Yeah, me too. I'm getting a bit tired of making enemies. I've been making enemies my whole life, and it would be nice to see if I could go somewhere and _not_ start a war with the people who live there." I smiled. It seemed like Jhanna had managed to take my words to heart when I said that she could choose who she wanted to be. Maybe she was trying to start over- at least in a small sense. In her own way, of course. Starlee pulled from her thoughts and swallowed the rest of her carrot-onion stick.

"Hey, now, stop talking like that. Mona Lisa says that it's a peaceful and easy-going planet, where they just go about their business and don't bother anyone outside of its orbit. I'm sure that much hasn't changed over the last few years. I mean, she's still fairly young. She can't be much older than you, Jhanna. She can't have been in prison for _that_ long, right?" When none of us answered her, her smile faded and she looked unsure. "Right?" I bit my lip and tried to think up a good response without sounding like I was insulting Mona Lisa behind her back. She may be rude and her uncaring attitude was a bit grating, but that didn't give us reason to be rude behind her back. But, before I could come up with a good response, I heard the door sliding open.

"Nine years." We all turned towards the door that led to the bedrooms, and there was Mona Lisa, leaning her back against the door frame with her arms folded over her chest. "I was in that prison for nine years." I almost felt bad for talking about these sorts of things without her knowing. Starlee bit her lip and a blush started to cover her cheeks; Jhanna looked away from us and down at the floor, trying to hide behind her disheveled bangs.

Mona walked up to us and placed her hands on the table, looking over at us. "And let me just make one thing clear: you can not like me all you want and talk about me behind my back all you want. I don't really care. But if you are going to talk smack about my planet or my people, do it to my face! 'Cause I am not gonna stand here and be around people who talk badly about a people that they've never met and have no right to judge." Jhanna looked up at her, the ashamed look in her eyes gone, and smirked teasingly at her. She seemed to have no trouble brushing off rude comments and less-than-nice lectures. Kinda like somebody else I know.

"Wow, for somebody who lives on such a peaceful and tranquil planet, you sure are good at being hostile and rude to people for no good reason. Or, are you? You look pretty insecure to me. But, by all means, if you're so mad at us for talking bad about your people, do you wanna fight me? If you're so mad at us, why not take it to the training room?" She nodded her head towards the holo-dojo with a smirk. "You've survived the Execution Battles for all these years- you must be a really good fighter, right?" Mona's angry eyes vanished and she suddenly looked more scared and insecure. She moved away from the table and looked away from us, rubbing her arm, her bangs falling into her eyes. She suddenly didn't look so cocky and ready to fight like she had just seconds ago, and looked more like... well, kinda like me when I was a kid. Unsure, scared, nervous to pick fights with people and chosing to stick to the background instead of trying to stand out and make a name for myself. Okay, it wasn't an exact copy of me, or anything, but it was so close that it was kind of scary. I almost started to feel sorry for her and opened my mouth to apologize to her.

But, once again, before I could say anything, an alarm started to go off throughout the ship, waking everybody out their thoughts. I took a look at the time. Five minutes before we reached the wormhole! Traximus came through the doors of the holo-dojo with a startled look on his face.

"What's going on?" I stood up, forgetting about the left over food in front of me, and looked at the others seriously.

"That's the alarm. Five minutes before we reach the wormhole! C'mon!" I ran toward the control room with the others right on my tail. Starlee and I ran up to the Professor and looked over the computers, noting that we were close to the wormhole.

"Status, Professor." He looked up at us and his gaze was serious.

"I've increased the speed a little bit and the calculations show we're almost there now. We'll get pulled into the wormhole's gravitational pull in T-minus one minute." I nodded and looked out the window. Of course I couldn't see anything, since we were moving so quickly, but I knew it was out there. And in only a few minutes, we would be diving right into it.

The Professor pressed a few buttons on the keyboard and out of the floor, four pod-like seats appeared and Jhanna and Mona Lisa had to jump away from where they were standing to make room. The four white pods, made out the same metal as the ship, were shaped like round balls. They were like a mix of a normal couch with backrest and seats made of red velvet, looking fairly comfortable, and a computer desk with a control panel on the front, similar to the main computers, only smaller. Probably so everybody could have an eye on what was going on around us.

"Alright, then, everybody has to take a seat while we go through the wormhole, since standing up can be very dangerous. One of us will have to stay at the main computers to make sure we stay on the right course through out the entire ride. One small mistake and we could all be destroyed due to the gravitational pulls inside the hole. It could crush us." Starlee, The Professor and I looked at each other, silently debating who should be that 'someone'. Jhanna, Traximus and Mona Lisa were out of the picture. None of the girls showed any interest in learning how to fly the ship, and Traximus was too big for the seats at the front. And to have him stand up could be too dangerous, even for a big, strong and tough alien like him.

Starlee tapped her chin with her finger and hummed to herself while thinking and looked up at us.

"Shouldn't somebody who has a lot of experience with flying ships drive through the wormhole? I mean, I know both Donnie and I have a good way with technology; but you've been in space for a longer time than us, so should you drive, Professor?" The Professor shook his head lightly and showed us the keyboards.

"It's really not that hard. All you really have to do is press this button," he pointed to a big yellow button beside the keyboard on the upper right side, "and that's it. The ship's computers will do the rest automatically. So as far as I know, anyone can do it." I looked down at the button. It seemed so simple. One push of a button, and we would be safe. But miss the cue, and we would get destroyed inside that wormhole in a matter of seconds. No pressure, right? I shuddered at the thought and looked up again, only to see that both Starlee and the Professor looked at me, Starlee smiling a small smile with innocent eyes and the Professor trying to mimic her. I started to feel a little uncomfortable and took a small step back. I turned around to look at Jhanna, and saw that she, Mona Lisa and Traximus also were looking at me like that. My cheeks started to feel warm and I knew I was blushing because of how uncomfortable I felt.

"Uh, why are you all looking at me like that?" Starlee turned to me and brushed her hair out of her eyes.

"Well... you have been more glued to the computers and determined to learn about the ship's technology than I've been. So, you know, maybe you should drive?" Wait, what? They wanted me to drive? Through a wormhole? Where- if one mistake was made- we would all die? Oh no, no no no. No way! I shook my head slowly, but as the words sank in more, I shook it more forcefully.

"No. No, no, no, no, I can't! I mean, I can't drive the ship through a wormhole! I'm not ready for that yet. This is my first time on a space ship- no, strike that, it's my first time in space! And I'm still new to this sort of technology- I can't do it! Professor, you're the smartest one here- and an adult! Shouldn't you drive?" The Professor took a surprised step back when I pointed at him, and he actually looked a little nervous when he heard how frantic I sounded.

"But, Donnie, you're the Captain on this ship! You're the leader." I turned to look at Jhanna, who was standing next to one of the pods with one hand on her hip. Her body language said she was confident and cocky, but her facial expression said she was mostly confused. I shook my head again and waved my hands in a 'no, no, no' kind of way.

"Uh, now, now, that was never official! I never said I was a leader or a captain! I've never been a leader- I've never led anyone in my life! I'm a follower, that's always been enough for me. I'm..." I sighed and let my arms fall to my sides, my head falling forward. "I'm, just not ready for this." No one said a thing. And I finally felt like all the stress that had been piling on me during our time on the ship made sense. These guys had seen me step up and take charge back at the prison, and just put me into the position of leader because of it. A position that I wasn't at all comfortable with. I was put in the spotlight and had everyone's eyes on me, and I just couldn't take it. And, on top of that, they expected me to know what to do, what to say and what the best thing to do was. Something I, out of all the people in the room, probably knew the least about.

I sighed heavily and sat down on the white metal seat in front of the main computers and buried my face in my hands. Oh, Leo, where are you? I need you! You're the leader- the big brother who always knows best. You always know what to do in a rough situation- you're a natural leader. Why are you _never_ around when I really, really need you? I removed my hands from my face and let my elbows rest on my knees, gripping my hands.

"Leo's my leader. He'd know what to do. I don't." I hoped that no one would hear my mumbling, but no, of course not.

"Who's Leo?" I looked up at Mona Lisa's question, and even though she still sounded sarcastic and disinterested, something in her voice was a little different. As if she actually cared a little. The others also looked at me, except for Jhanna. Since I already told her about my brothers and their names, she already knew who Leo was. But she didn't say anything, leaving it to me to decide if I should tell the others or not. And I was thankful for that. I took another breath, looked away from my friends (and Mona) and decided to say it.

"My big brother." I said it very curtly, with an almost angry tone in my voice. Almost. Only enough for them to understand that I didn't want to talk about this right now. Besides, we didn't have the time. The Professor looked down at the computers again, gasped and turned back to us.

"We'll enter the wormhole in just a little more than a minute! Hurry, take your seats! I will drive us through." He didn't have to tell anyone twice. Everyone hurried over to the pods and sat down, two by two in three of the four pods, except for Traximus, who was too big to share with anyone and got one of the pods all for himself. And he barely fit as it was anyway. Mona Lisa and Starlee sat with each other in one of the pods and Jhanna and I in another. The Professor stood in the very front of the ship, eyes locked on the window and the space in front of us, ready to take us through the wormhole and to a different part of the galaxy. He turned to look at us over his shoulder.

"I just want to remind everyone that the ride will be a little shaky. And I do mean shaky. So I advise you to stay where you are until the ship is out of the wormhole and the shaking stops. Oh, and don't forget to buckle up." We all looked down at our seats for anything to buckle up with, but nothing was there, and Mona Lisa was quick to point that out.

"There aren't any seat belts in these things!" The Fugitoid only laughed at us and waved dismissively at us, as if he wasn't taking what she said seriously.

"Oh, it's only a figure of speech, my dear! Now, hang on!" Suddenly I didn't feel as excited as I had been earlier about going into the wormhole, and was starting to wish we had taken the long way instead. I stood up and reached out a hand towards the Professor.

"W-wait! Maybe we shouldn't-" I didn't get any further before the whole ship started to shake. And when I say shake, I don't mean 'shake' like a bumpy ride on the streets of New York or like anything like that. Oh, no, it was _way_ worse than that. It was so much worse than those worm-quakes that happened back in New York, almost three months ago. I lost balance and instinctively tried to take a step back, but instead tripped and fell back down on my seat, hitting my head on the back of the backrest and squawking in pain, but I quickly forgot about it as the shaking got worse. The lights in the entire ship flickered and turned themselves off, leaving only the orange light on the walls on. The doors to the other rooms closed themselves, as if they were programmed to do that when going through a wormhole or something similar.

I braced my hands against the metal in front of me and tried to press myself against the back of the pod. I tried not to shake along with the ship and to sit still, but that was practically impossible. Beside me, Jhanna had placed her hands against the pod to keep herself from slamming her forehead onto the keyboard or the metal that it was made of and she attempted to avoid bumping into anything as the shaking intensified. Mona Lisa and Starlee were doing something very similar and tried to keep themselves from getting hurt. Only Traximus and the Professor seemed unfazed by the shaking, as Traximus barely moved in the crammed pod he was sitting in. And the Professor seemed to have no problem standing up straight without falling or slamming into anything. He reached out his robotic hand towards the button, and due to the gravitational acceleration, he struggled to reach it. He stumbled and almost fell, like, three times before he stretched his arm out; making in longer and he finally managed to press it.

The moment that he hit the button, the ship suddenly increased in speed and I felt myself being pressed against the backrest due to the speed and the acceleration. I couldn't move a muscle, nor could I speak or make any sounds whatsoever, not even a scream, and my eyes were glued on the window in the front of the ship, unable to look anywhere else. A million thoughts and memories flashed before my eyes in seconds, as the wormhole outside the window flashed with all the colours of the rainbow as we flew through it, at a million miles per hour. My body started to feel more and more stiff due to the acceleration and the speed pressing me up against the pod and I almost started to think that it would turn itself inside out. I felt nauseous, my head started to spin like a merry-go-round at top speed and I suddenly had a hard time breathing. And as the ship flew faster and faster, I started to feel more and more overwhelmed by what was going on around me, until it was all too much to handle, and I finally passed out.

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 **A/N: Ooh, the wormhole scene was so fun to write! And I look forward to show you Filione, and all that it has to offer! But for the next chapter, I'm gonna give you something different first. Back on Earth, that is.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	33. Chapter 32, Time to leave town

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: SUMMER! YES! I am school-free for the next two and a half months. I have not been so good at updating this story the last few months, but I hope to do better now that school is done for the time being. I also realize that I've spent almost a full year on this story, and haven't even gotten halfway done with it. Makes me wonder how long this story will eventually end up being.**

 **I also want to take this moment and thank Just-Gold, who recently sent me a wonderful and supportive PM, since I'e had such a rough year last year. So JG, if you're reading this story and this chapter, thank you so much for your kind words and for reading this story. It's people like you who make this so much more fun than it already is. Thank you!**

 **I also want to thank ThisVioletofMine, for taking time to proof-read this, since she's had a lot to do these past few days.**

 **I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 32, Time to leave town

The Invasion was coming. The Kraang would be ready to take over New York any day now, and we were all ready to help them do it. If Shredder was happy about that, he didn't show it. As usual, any accomplishment that we might have made was never enough for him. I could tell him we managed to find the Turtles' lair and knew where Splinter was hiding and he would still say it wasn't enough. It was never enough.

He had called us all to his throne room without telling us the reason why. And we were all there, waiting for him. Tiger Claw was testing the edge of his sword against his claws and seemed pretty uncaring about the rest of us. Xever and Bradford just stood around, ever trying to find some entertainment by bugging Stockman, and Bradford just stood and waited like the sickeningly obedient dog he was. I sighed and rested my chin in my hand. I was surrounded by mutants. What had become of my life? And what was becoming of this world? I groaned and jumped down from the table I had been sitting on for the last fifteen minutes.

"Father called us to a meeting thirty minutes ago! What's taking him?" Tiger Claw glanced up from his sword to look at me for a second before he looked back at his weapon again. He didn't care much about me- or anything but his loyalty to Shredder. And even that seemed to have become a bit flighty.

"Patience is a trait of the ninja, girl. A true warrior can wait for hours, waiting for his enemy to attack or for the perfect moment for an attack to arrive. Perhaps you need training in said art." I growled at him and was tempted to slice his other ear off. That might make him shut up. I had just placed my hand on the hilt of my sword when the doors opened and Shredder walked in. I quickly pulled my hand away from the weapon and bowed my head to him in respect.

"Father." Tiger Claw put his sword back in his belt and placed one fist in his other hand, bowing in respect as well. Both Xever and Bradford copied our actions, but Stockman didn't- he just bowed his head slightly before he got distracted by another chocolate bar that Shredder threw at him to keep him quiet. Father didn't make a sound. He just walked up the stairs to his throne and sat down. He was quiet for the first few minutes before he finally decided to speak.

"I have spoken with the Kraang. They are ready for their invasion of this wretched city. And Kraang Prime has offered his assistance in the destruction of Hamato Yoshi and his wretched turtles- if we aid him in taking over the city of New York." I looked up in shock. He was actually gonna do it? He was gonna make the entire planet suffer and hand it over to the Kraang just to get his revenge? He couldn't do that, could he? I mean, I want Yoshi dead just as much as my father does, but to pay the price of our planet?

 _"You're despicable, Karai, you know that?"_

 _"Nobody of his blood would ever agree on something like that!"_

 _"What will destroying us do for you, anyway? Bring back your mother? 'Cause it won't, and you know that."_

Leo's words started to ring in my head and I suddenly started to feel doubtful. Not by what he said- I still don't believe a word he had said about Hamato Yoshi being my father- but the meaning his words had. How far was I willing to go in order to get what I want? I took a breath and looked up at my father.

"Help the Kraang? Is that really such a smart decision, father? They are aliens, here to destroy our world and replace it with their own! Is it worth the risk of working with them?" He looked down at me with harsh eyes and slammed his fist on the armrest of his throne, standing up from his seat.

"Watch your tone with me, Karai! I am well aware of the Kraang's plans to take over our world." He sat down again and started talking with a calmer tone in his voice. "However, what you say is true. They are dangerous allies, but they have provided us with much technology and asked for little in return." Tiger Claw kneeled down before Shredder's throne and looked up at him.

"The girl is right, Master Shredder. They will betray you, you know this. They care nothing for the human race." Shredder looked down at Tiger Claw and glared at him with clear anger and annoyance in his eyes.

"Nor do I." My eyes widened and I looked down to avoid having anyone seeing my face. How much was he ready to sacrifice to get his revenge? Just how much? I looked up when I heard a low, rumbling voice speak up. Bradford's voice.

"Uh, Master Shredder? What are your plans concerning the Turtles?" Shredder leaned back in his seat again and hummed lowly. He turned to look at me and gestured at me to come closer. Once I got to the stairs that led up to his throne, I kneeled down before him and lowered my head in respect.

"What do you know of the Turtles' current situation, Karai?" I looked up at him, trying to look as normal as I could.

"I ran into Leonardo earlier tonight. He is clearly distraught over the death of his precious little brother. And I highly doubt the others aren't as distraught, if not more so, than him. They have barely gone out on patrol and they are no doubt unprepared to deal with an invasion right now." Shredder chuckled, pleased with what he heard, and stood up again.

"Excellent, Karai. Your little scheme to take down the Turtles, although not performed as it should have been, clearly has broken the Turtles. It should not be hard to destroy them in their current pathetic state." He walked down the stairs just as I stood up and placed both hands on my shoulders. "Well done, Karai." I smirked, feeling very good about myself, but the gnawing feeling in my brain wouldn't go away. Shredder turned to look at me. Then he looked to the mutants in the room.

"Go, search the city! Find the Turtles and then inform me of their destination! I am going to enjoy seeing them destroyed."

* * *

(Raph's P.O.V)

Calling up as many of our allies as possible wasn't that hard, since we didn't have that many. At least not that many that could help us fight against the Kraang. Slash had helped us against the Newtraliser, but I still didn't know if I could call him an ally. Especially after what he had done to my brothers. And the few other mutants and humans we knew, like Malachi, Rockwell, Pigeon Pete, Kurtzman and Murakami, weren't much help to count on. We had managed to get a hold of April and Casey, but other than that we didn't have that many allies. April's father only had to hear that we were talking about the Kraang to lock himself and April up in the apartment, forcing April to leave through the window of her room, so he was out of the picture. But they were still our friends and we could use all the help we could get. At the moment, we were all sitting in the lair, trying to think up a plan. And we didn't have much time to come up with one.

If anyone were to ask me what I thought we should do, I thought we should stay and fight. The Kraang and the Foot had been after us for so long, kidnapped innocent people, mutating them, trying to kill us, sent their crazy mutant servants after us and so had tried to take over the world, or -even worse- given the other enemy the key they needed to take over the world. and didn't even care. And now, they had taken one of our brothers away from us, and that was the final straw for me. Now, it was more than personal. We should stay and fight, or die trying, if it were up to me.

Leo was pacing around in the living room, hands on his shell and a serious, worried look in his eyes.

"The invasion will happen any day now, and we are at a big disadvantage. And the question is, what can we do? What are we going to do?" He asked both himself and everyone around him at the same time as he paced the living room with his hands behind his back. Mikey, who was sitting beside Leatherhead, raised his hand slightly.

"Um, we could break into TCRI and destroy more of their technology? Or maybe go to Dimension X and set the invasion back some more? That might slow 'em down, right?" Leatherhead shook his head and turned towards Mikey, frowning slightly at him.

"I do not think that would work, Michelangelo. Remember, in Dimension X there is a temporal differential. The time in Dimension X goes faster than in our dimension. Even if we did manage to destroy all of their technology, their every technodrome and all of their mutagen, it would only be a matter of days before they would have it all functional again." Casey fingered the wrappings on his baseball bat, looking as he was trying to come up with a good idea of his own, but failing. After a few minutes of silence, he looked up.

"I don't get why we can't just go and fight the invasion as it is. I mean, what else can we do? It's our city, those aliens don't have the right to take it!" April looked over at him tiredly and she looked ready to drop to the floor from exhaustion- especially considering how late it was and how little sleep she'd clearly gotten recently.

"Think a little, Jones. We don't have the weapons or the allies to win. At worst we'd die, and at best we'd only make things worse. We can't take out an entire invasion with less than ten people." Leo bit his lower lip and seemed to think over our options. Then he looked over to Master Splinter.

"What do you think we should do, Sensei? Do you have any ideas on what we should do?" Splinter closed his eyes, took a deep breath through his nose and then opened them again. He was trying to hide it, but I could see that he was still pretty distraught over the news Leo had told us about Karai. That probably distracted him a little from the issue at hand. And I couldn't exactly blame him for that.

"I do not think it would be wise to try and fight the invasion as of now. We clearly are at a disadvantage, have fewer fighters on our side, and we don't have any weapons to match theirs. We need more time. Time that we do not have." Leo hummed in thought and rubbed his chin. He was in his leader-mode, and if I knew him right, he also had a plan in the making.

"Hm... I think the best thing we can do is leave the city. We need to find a second base, outside of the city, come up with a plan out of danger, and then return when we're ready to fight off the Kraang. Right now, we're not ready." Wait, what? That was his brilliant plan? No way! We couldn't run away from the problem. That's not what Donnie would've wanted. He would want to stay and fight, even if we didn't have a big chance on succeeding. He always fought with everything he had, even if it wasn't very much. That was the Donatello Way: never give up.

April, who sat with her chin in her hands and her elbows on her knees, looked up at Splinter and then at Leo. "Uh, my family has a farmhouse. Upstate, in North Hampton. We could go there, stick around as long as we needed and come back to New York when we felt ready to take on the Kraang. It's far away from the nearest town- we'd be safe. We could take the Shellraiser and leave before they even notice we're gone." Leo hummed in thought and then looked up at Master Splinter, who nodded.

"As for now, I don't believe we have much of a choice. The Shredder will not let us leave if we wait much longer, and the Kraang's invasion could happen at any moment. We have to retreat." Alright, that's it. I couldn't keep my mouth shut anymore. I shook my head and flew up from my seat on the stairs that led to Donnie's lab.

"Wait, what? That's it? Are you saying we should just give up and run away without even _trying_ to fight back? No way!" Leo sighed and looked over at me, too tired and stressed to argue, clearly irritated.

"Raph, we don't have a choice. We're at a disadvantage and we need time to get better before we fight back. We have to leave the city before the Kraang or the Shredder kill us. There's nothing else we can do." I stomped up to Leo and shoved my finger into his chest, showing I wasn't about to give in.

"I am not running away, Leo! Especially not from the Kraang- not after what they've done to us! Leave if you want, but I refuse to retreat! I've sworn to take care of this city until Donnie gets back, and I will. With or without you." Leo sighed heavily and pinched the space between his eyes. I saw Mikey stand up from where he was sitting and walk over to us.

"Raph, c'mon, dude, you have to listen to him. You can't stay behind alone! You'll get killed!" April stood and Casey walked over to us as well, and for a second I felt relieved. Casey was my best friend; surely he would have my back. But-

"Yeah, dude. You can't seriously think that you can handle the Kraang, the Foot and the Shredder all on your own! You can't, and you know it." I growled at him and folded my arms over my chest.

"Maybe not, but I am _not_ going to run away from them like a coward! I'd rather die trying to defeat them than run away with my tail between my legs. Especially without even trying to throw a single punch." April placed her hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes.

"Raph, please, you have to be reasonable here. If we leave now, we can come back in a few months. And then, we'll be able to handle everything that the Kraang have done here. With Shredder out to kill us, it's not safe to stay here. You know he'd stop at nothing to get you all." I sucked in my lips, tightened my arms over my chest and stubbornly shook my head, turning my back on my friends and brothers.

"Well, then, _you_ leave! I'll stay here and keep an eye on things until you come back! That's what Donnie would've wanted; to stay here and fight back with everything we've got." Leo growled and I could practically see him face-palm and try to keep himself from losing his temper.

"So Donnie would've wanted you to get yourself killed?!" I froze and my anger slowly faded a little. I remained in my stance, with folded arms, a frown on my face and my whole body tense, but it slowly started to relax. Leo sighed, a lot calmer, and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Raph, I understand what you're saying. I really do. But you have to understand that we can't stay here- it's just not safe. And I know that you're still sore over..." He trailed off and took a deep, shaky breath. "O-our loss, but I can confidently say that Donnie wouldn't want us to get killed in a fight we couldn't win. And even if he wanted to stay and fight, I can tell you right now that the moment he realized that we couldn't win, he would give in, retreat and leave with the rest of us, if only to make sure we were safe. He wouldn't want any one of us to get killed just to win a fight. You know that." I let out a heavy breath through my nose and let my head tilt forward a bit. Master Splinter walked up to me and placed his hands on my shoulders, turning me around to look at him. And when I still didn't look up at him, he placed his fingers under my chin and made me look him in the eyes.

"Raphael, I can see that you're hurting, and I wish there was something I could say or do to take that pain and grief away- but I can't. None of us are ready for an invasion right now, and none of us wish to lose another family member. I only have three children left, and I do not want to lose another one, Raphael." I bit my lip and looked away from my father. He was right- I knew he was. I just didn't want to accept it. We had to leave, but I didn't want to leave. This was our home, we had to fight for it, not just let the Kraang and Shredder take it.

"But... B-but..." Leo placed his hand on my arm and I looked up at him.

"Look around, Raph. Our family is broken and we've already lost one member- one brother. Are you really willing to risk losing another one?" One question. _One_ freaking question was he needed to throw me off completely. I felt all will to stay pour out of me and I looked around the room. Two brothers, two human friends and two mutant adults in the room. That was all we had right now. And right now, they needed me to be there for them. Losing one more? I shook my head. I couldn't do it. I looked over at the others, sighed heavily and let my head fall forwards, gazing down at the floor.

"Okay, you win. We'll leave town..." Leo patted my shell consolingly and Mikey hugged my arm before we all looked up at Splinter, who stroked his beard in thought.

"My sons, we cannot bring much with us. All of you, bring only the most meaningful things with you. Pack lightly. We will leave in the Shellraiser." We all bowed and ran off in different directions. Mikey ran towards the kitchen, Leo towards his room and I was about to go to my room before I halted and looked behind me, at Donnie's lab door. Those big, heavy, metal doors that had been closed for weeks now because no one had dared to go in there out of respect for Donnie's belongings and inventions. The others had considered cleaning out the lab and putting away Donnie's things, but no one had the heart to do it, so we all just let it be.

I hesitated, looked around the room to see if anyone was still there, then heaved the doors open and slipped inside.

* * *

(Mikey's P.O.V)

The second Splinter told us to get one important thing from the lair, I immediately thought of Ice Cream Kitty. She was my pet, even though the reason she was the way she was had been a total accident. There was no way I could leave her behind right now. I opened the fridge and there she was, as happy and carefree as ever. I also knew she would make fuss about leaving our home, and her leaving her freezer.

"I know this is your home, but you know we have to leave, right, Ice Cream Kitty?" She just licked herself and meowed happily, like she always did. I carefully reached into the freezer and grabbed her, knowing she would fight back.

"Now, come on, kitty kitty. Easy, easy." I tried to pull her out, but she had grabbed onto the fridge and refused to let go, meowing loudly in protest as I pulled harder and harder, until she finally let go. I placed her into the cooler that I also had filled with frozen pizzas. She still meowed in protest, but not as loudly as before.

"There. You'll be okay in there, Ice Cream Kitty. Just squeeze in there between the pizzas." I carefully closed the cooler and picked it up before a terrible thought hit me. The photo. Was it still there? I almost dropped the cooler, heard Ice Cream Kitty yowl indignantly, and looked through my belt for the photo of me and Donnie. I almost thought I had dropped it when I felt a piece a of paper in my belt and pulled it out to see it it was okay. And it still looked alright, if not a little crumpled. I sighed and felt small tears form in my eyes, but quickly wiped them away.

"Whatever happened to you, I hope you're in a better place than we are right now, D."

* * *

(Leo's P.O.V)

I didn't have many bags, but I knew I had a small duffle bag where I kept some of my valuable things that I didn't want Mikey or Raph to find or break, like rare Space Hero toys, comics or other things from my childhood. Right now, I needed it for other things. I emptied everything in the bag onto my bed and then walked over to my bookshelf. I grabbed the photo album and put it in the bag, along with a photo of the whole family, my ducky blanket Splinter got me when I was a kid and my journal and a pen. I always had my phone in my belt and the swords on my back so I didn't need to pack them, and I didn't think I needed to bring anything else with me.

I was just about to close the bag and go back out to the living room to meet up with the others when my eyes fell on the spine of a book on my bookshelf. A thin book with a tattered cover and a one word-title, just a name. Carrie, one of Donnie's favorite books. I bit my lip, looked down into my bag, to the door and then back at the book. I had packed a photo album, filled with pictures of all of us, so it's not like I didn't bring anything that didn't give me something to remember my brother by. And Splinter had told us not to pack that much- only things that were really important to us. But, still, it was one of Donnie's things. He had loved that book, so shouldn't I bring it with me? Something that was Donnie's and meant something to him.

I sighed and walked over to the shelf and picked up the book, looking at the title and the picture on the front- a blonde girl covered in blood and with the strange look in her eyes. It was strange to think I would find such a strange story to be so good. I mean, when I started to read it, it had seemed like such a cliched high school story with a dash of Cinderella in there, with a bullied girl getting to be the belle of the ball for one night. But it turned out to be so much more disturbing than that- in a good way! I mean, a girl who develops telekinetic powers and goes on a killing spree on her Prom Night? Who comes up with these sorts of things? I had no idea that Donnie liked that sort of book. And, in a way, I was tempted to look at his bookshelf and see if I could find anything else good to read. If they were anything like this book, it might actually be a pretty good read.

I exhaled softly and stuffed the book into my bag and zipped it closed. It would have to do for now. When we came back here, after the Invasion was over with and the Kraang, gone, I could look through Donnie's shelves to see if he had any more interesting books. I placed the strap of my bag over my shoulder, looked over my room one last time, and felt pretty heavy-hearted. I didn't want to leave my home, but we had no other choice.

"We'll be back. And when we do, we'll stop the Kraang and save the city." I turned off the lights and closed the door behind me, hopefully not for the last time.

* * *

(Splinter's P.O.V)

I could not leave without what little I had left of my old life. If I lost that, I would have nothing left to remember my old family by, and I couldn't bear to lose any of it. I had one rather large bag that I had used for scavenging food and resources back when my sons were mere babies. It would have to do, for now, despite how big it was. I packed the photo of my family and I, along with a photo of me and Tang Shen after we had just become a couple. I did not have much else.

I sighed, turning toward my room, and walked in. On a small shelf was the box where I kept many of the items, photos and other memories from my sons' childhood. I had to take it with me as well. My sons were all I had left in my life. I had to take their childhood with me. I couldn't bear the thought of it being destroyed.

It was a small box, but still big enough to fit a lot of photos, toys, old practice weapons and much more. I opened the lid and checked to see if anything was missing. Nothing could be left behind. I dug my hand through the different toys and photos and then let out a sigh of relief. Nothing seemed to be out of place or missing. Raphael's old child-proofed sai, Michelangelo's childish drawings, Leonardo's toys and Donatello's small and simple inventions. Everything was there.

My eyes wandered over Donatello's inventions, drawings, toys, and pictures of him from his childhood and felt my heart clench. Why did I keep these things together like this? Perhaps I should pack them separately or just put them someplace else? So it would hurt less whenever I felt like taking a peek at my sons' items? I knew I didn't have it in my heart to get rid of any of it, but still. I had already felt the pain and grief of losing a child, why torture myself by reminding myself of the second one? The one I had cared for since the day he was mutated, and spent the last sixteen years watching him grow and mature and loved as my own flesh and blood. I sighed. Yes, why torture myself with everything that he did in his life, and the ideas of what could have been the future.

I my eyes fell on a small red plastic pocket knife with a small button on the side. I reached down and picked it up, placing my finger over the button and pushed it, releasing seven small 'arms' from the sides of the apparatus, each with a small tool on them. A knife, a nail file, a pair of scissors, a can opener, a fork, a toothbrush and a spoon. I couldn't help but chuckle at how silly it looked, yet also at how useful it had been. Donatello had put it together for me when he was about eight years old, so I would always have a spoon or a knife on me when I cooked our dinner or had a pair of scissors or nail file in case my claws needed to be trimmed a little. A very nice thought, but I had only kept it and at first used it to humor him. But I had ended up using it more times than I'd thought I would when he gave it to me. He had always been so resourceful, using whatever he had to build his own toys or inventions to help us get by. Even if the end product would end up looking a little silly.

I let out a heavy sigh and decided against the idea of separating the items. I couldn't do it. Everything that Donatello had done for us, everything he had created and memories from his childhood, should be with everything his brothers had done as well. He deserved much more than that, but it was all I could do for him now. He had always been such a quiet child- it had been hard to know when he was bothered or had a problem. But I still should have seen that he was hurting in his situation in our family. I hadn't been there to help him when he asked me to, so the least I could do was acknowledge everything he was to me.

I carefully put the pocket knife back in the box and closed it. We had no time to sit around anymore- we had to leave now. Our home was not going to be safe for much longer.

* * *

(Raph's P.O.V)

Donnie's lab had remained untouched for almost three months now, and it really showed. The workspaces, tools and inventions were covered with dust, and it had a sort of eerie atmosphere about it. I almost felt like I was intruding on forbidden ground. I looked around the big room with as much respect as I could, but also couldn't help but feel melancholy. This had been Donnie's very own place of enjoyment and relaxation; his sanctuary. A place where he could go nuts and create whatever he wanted with whatever he had- do what he loved to do. And also a place where he could be himself. Or that's at least what I assume. He never really talked to us about his problems or what he felt.

He once said that he talked to the Pulverizer- uh, I mean, Timothy- about his feelings when April had left us after that Mutagen incident. That felt like almost a century ago now, with everything that had happened the last year. I had asked him about it as if he was crazy because of this, but I had kinda wondered afterwards what he thought about us, since he found talking to a barely-sentient blob with organs therapeutic. But I had also dismissed it as unimportant and ignored it. Like the douchebag brother I am.

I walked into the room and looked over all the inventions and trinkets Donnie had made or collected over the years. Like that little trophy shelf he had over his desk, filled with- what he called- collectibles from a lot of our fights. Snakeweed's claw, that Kraang mind control device Mr. O'Neil had on his neck, a Kraang-bot's head and some more stuff. Why he collected these things, I had no idea, but he seemed to like the things, so whatever. There was the desk, covered with bottles of different kinds of chemicals, sketches for inventions, notepads with equations and notes written down and pens, tools and machine parts scattered all over the workspace. Typical Donnie. His mind was sharp and had no room for the unneeded stuff and ideas, but his lab was almost always a mess.

This whole room was all Donnie's, and it felt wrong to even be in here. But I felt like I should bring at least something, in case the Kraang or the Shredder found our lair and destroyed it. But I had no idea what. I couldn't exactly bring any of the big stuff, like Metalhead or any of the bigger inventions- that would be too much to bring along. And what would we do with it, anyway? And Donnie's small stuff, like pens and blueprints and such, was not exactly that important, and not valuable enough to bring. So what should I bring? The Shellraiser was his invention, of course, but that wasn't where his whole spirit was- he'd mostly made that out of necessity rather than as a personal project for enjoyment.

My eyes fell on what was left of the Pulverizer, or Timothy, or whatever his name was, and I cringed slightly. No way. Too big, and what use would we have of him anyway? He was a frozen chunk of guts and internal organs. Instead I walked up to Donnie's desk and started to look through the drawers to look for something, anything. But in two of those drawers I mostly found the same stuff I found on the desk. Paper, notebooks, pens and blueprints. I shook my head and drew out the top drawer to look through that one before I had to go out and meet up with the others before we left.

The first thing I saw was a big, thick book with some complicated title that none of us could pronounce or understand, other than that it had something to do with physics, and I grabbed it and flipped through the pages. It just seemed like any of those books that Donnie had about science or math or anything else, so I just sighed and was about to put it back down in the drawer when something else caught my eye. A small stack of about three or four journals; I carefully put the book aside and picked up one of them and skimmed over the first page.

 _Journal Entry, April 20th 2014_

 _Well, this day certainly could have gone a whole lot better. I don't know how many times I've told myself to start listening to Master Splinter more and take his advice to heart, but tonight I really feel like it cost a lot more than it should._

 _The Kraang are back in the city and they tried to ship a cargo of some sorts to, I guess, TCRI, and when we found out, we tried to stop it. And we failed- miserably._

 _The cargo, which of course turned out to be mutagen, was spilled all over the city and- on top of that- April's dad was hit by one of the canisters. And what's worse- when April found out that we were largely responsible for that, she was furious. I have never seen such hate in her eyes, and the fact that it was directed towards us felt horrible, to say the very least. She said she never wanted to see us again and ran off._

 _I hate to make this about me, 'cause I feel terrible for April and her father, but I don't think she realized how she broke my heart._

There was more written on the page, but I tore my eyes away from the page. So these were Donnie's more personal journals. Where he wrote down the things he never told anyone. I looked down at the other journals in the drawer and moved to pick them up, too. These I could take with me out of the city, and they didn't weigh that much. But suddenly a sense of awareness hit me, and I pulled my hand back. Should I do this? Was it right to take my own brother's personal journals with me, with my thoughts set on reading them? I mean, would that be seen as disrespectful?

I bit my lip, thought as long and hard as I could, since we didn't have forever, and then snatched up the first journal, leaving the other ones in their place. One would be good, for now. I only had to hide this from the others. I knew Leo and Sensei would kill me if they found out I had essentially taken Donnie's diary and read it. I put the large book back over the other journals and then made my way out of the lab, closing the doors as softly as I could so no one could hear me. I held the journal tightly in my hand.

"What are you doing?" I almost yelped in surprise and turned around to see who had caught me, hiding the journal behind my back. April sat on the couch with her phone in her hand, as if she had just called someone, and looked at me weirdly. But she didn't look as though she knew what I had done, only like she was surprised I was in Donnie's lab. I tried to look as normal as I could and shrugged.

"Nothing. What are _you_ doing?" I bounced her question back at her so she would answer that and strike up a small conversation and hopefully forget what she had asked me. She put her phone back in her coat pocket, her eyes leaving mine for a second, so I put the journal in my belt, hoping no one would see it, and folded my arms over my chest to look as casual as I could.

"I'm just calling my dad. He said he's going on a small trip- you know, to relax a little. With everything that's been happening lately, he felt like he needed some time away from the city." She rolled her eyes slightly and groaned a little. "You wouldn't believe how much arguing it took for me to convince him that I could stay with my aunt and not go with him. I wanted to keep an eye on the Kraang, but I couldn't exactly tell him that." I nodded and looked over at Casey, who was fingering the wrapping on his hockey stick. He had been almost uncharacteristically quiet tonight, which was really weird, since he was Casey.

"Well, what about you, Jones? Aren't you gonna call your dad and tell him you're leaving for a while?" He looked up and looked like he had been shaken out of his thoughts, or woken up from a daydream. He then shook his head and looked down on his bat again.

"Nah, my dad just left town for a business trip with his job- he won't be back for another two weeks. And my sister is staying with my mom, who lives in Philadelphia." April looked surprised and turned to Casey.

"Oh, your mom? But, I... I mean, I just assumed that-." Casey smirked slightly at her.

"That she was dead? No worries, Red, I'm not picky about talking about her. I just don't do it so often. She moved out of town after she and Dad got a divorce a few years ago. I don't see her so often, since I'm still kinda ticked that she left us, but my sister goes to visit her as often as she can." April nodded slowly and turned away so we couldn't see her blush. But she still asked,

"Well, what about you? Why are you staying home alone while your dad's away? Shouldn't you at least be staying with a relative?" Casey shook his head.

"My dad doesn't care much about me. He sees me as old enough to take care of myself, and left me to look after our place. But since the Invasion's gonna come any day now, I don't think he'll be too picky about who's taking care of our house." I bit my lips. Casey rarely talked about his family, and if what he said was true and he had a rough relation with his dad, then that might be pretty understandable.

April stood up from the couch and zipped up her coat. "I'm gonna go home real quick and say good bye to my dad. He said he's gonna leave for the airport in less than an hour." She looked up at me. "You guys will stop by and pick me up, right?" I nodded and gave her thumbs up.

"Sure thing, Apes. You can count on us." She smiled and looked over at Casey. He looked up at her, and for a second I could swear I saw his cheeks get just a tad redder. He stood up quickly and gathered up his stuff.

"Uh, I-I'm gonna go with A-April. I mean, heh, somebody's gotta make sure she gets to her apartment all safe and secure, right?" April laughed lightly, sounding a little embarrassed, and I could swear I saw her blush a little, too, before they almost ran out of the lair without even saying goodbye. I looked after them and hummed in thought over what I had just seen. April and Casey, both blushing at being alone together and leaving in such a rush? I rubbed my chin in thought. Could they... Nah. I shook my head and rolled my eyes at the thought. April was serious and driven, and Casey was much goofier and lazier than her. They couldn't possibly... or could they?

"Raph, are you ready to go?" I was jerked out of my thoughts and saw Leo come out of his room and Mikey come out the kitchen, Mikey carrying a cooler and Leo having a small duffle bag over his shoulder. I turned to look at them, tried to look as though I hadn't been thinking of what I had been thinking about, and walked up to them.

"Uh, yeah- yeah, I'm ready." Mikey looked at me, and then towards the lab doors. He looked both suspicious and confused.

"Uh, what were you doing in Donnie's lab, dude?" I gulped and felt myself getting a cold sweat.

"Uh..." I wracked my brain trying to think up a good excuse, but then I saw Master Splinter come out of the dojo with a small bag of his own.

"Come now, my sons. We must leave now, while we still can." I let out a small sigh of relief. Saved by the rat. We all walked towards the Shellraiser, where Leatherhead was already waiting for us. Leo turned to look at me.

"Where're April and Casey?" Oh, I had almost forgotten about that for a second. I shrugged slightly.

"She went to say goodbye to her dad. Apparently he's leaving for a trip and she wanted to see him before he left. Casey is escorting her." Leo nodded and walked up to the driver seat. Mikey and I sat down at our own positions, looking over at Leatherhead.

"It's probably gonna be a little cramped, but I hope you'll be able to cope anyway." Leatherhead sat down in between Leo's station and mine and wrapped his tail around his legs.

"It will suffice, my friends." Master Splinter looked over at Donnie's station and he hesitantly sat down. I could see that he felt like he was treading on forbidden ground, and sitting where he wasn't supposed to. But we didn't have time to think about that. Leo started the engine and we started to move out of the sewers. No one spoke for a very long time. Leo's eyes were locked on the screen that showed him where he was going, Mikey was fingering the photo of himself and Donnie, Splinter seemed to be in deep thought, and Leatherhead looked pretty uncomfortable from his position on the floor.

My fingers travelled down to my belt and the journal that was placed there. I was extremely tempted to look through it, but it felt like it wasn't exactly the best time and place to do that. I looked around to see if anyone was looking, and then slowly took the journal out from my belt and looked it over. It had gotten a little wrinkly, but undamaged enough. I was about to open it and read more about April 20th, when a loud _THUD_ was heard and something landed on top of our van. Mikey looked up from his photo and up at the roof.

"What was that?" I shook my head and shrugged, showing I had no idea. At first no one knew what to do, but then, out of nowhere, a long sharp knife cut itself through the roof, only inches away from Leatherhead's eye. Leo slammed on the brakes and we all flew up from our seats.

"Someone's out there!" Leo cried, drawing his swords, ready to fight. I hid the journal as quickly as I could under one of the canons and drew my sai.

"Wow- really, Leo? Did you figure that out all on your own?" I snarked at him and he glared at me, but didn't answer. Mikey pulled out his nunchucks and Splinter gripped his cane a little tighter. Leatherhead didn't have any weapons, but he looked ready to attack with what he had anyway. Then a voice rang out.

"Come out, Turtles! We know you're in there!" Tiger Claw. Leo forced the doors open and we ran out, only to see a whole bunch of foot-bots, ready with their weapons, both Tiger Claw and Rahzar with claws and swords drawn, and when we heard the knife in our roof being pulled out we saw Karai and Fishface there with their weapons drawn. And, from the looks of it all, they were not going to let us go without a fight.

"Aw, sewer bunnies." I muttered and gripped my sai even tighter. This was gonna be fun.

 _NOT._

* * *

 **A/N: Finally done! This chapter... I have no idea why it was so hard to write, but now it's done and I hope you liked it!**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	34. Chapter 33, Leaving Our Home in Shambles

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: I am so sorry that this chapter took so long, but I had big problems writing this chapter because I'm not very good at writing fight scenes. And this chapter is kind of one long fight, except for the part with Casey and April. I apologize for the scene, 'cause I feel it was rushed and not very well-written. Since I don't ship them, nor read or like romance all that much, well, it's not my best work.**

 **Anyway, regardless, I hope you'll like this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

* * *

Chapter 33, Leaving Our Home in Shambles

It had sounded so easy when it was said. Leave New York before the Shredder could find us or the Kraang could start the Invasion. All we had to do was a pack a few things, pick up April and Casey from April's place, and then leave. No fuss, no muss. We would all leave, alive and well. But now, somehow, Tiger Claw and Shredder's other mutants had found us and wanted to fight us. Had they just been waiting for us to show up or what?

Oh well, it wasn't important right now. Leo drew his swords and Raph drew his sai, standing in front of the rest of us, ready to fight. Master Splinter and Leatherhead also looked battle-ready, with claws, teeth and staff at the ready, but Master Splinter also seemed to be a little distracted; his expression made it clear not all of his thoughts were on the here and now. I drew my nunchucks but couldn't help but look over at the others and feel rather hesitant about this. Shouldn't we just try to drive away while we could, instead of staying here and fight them? What if someone was hurt? What if we lost yet another family member?

Karai jumped down from the Shellraiser and landed between us and Tiger Claw with her own sword drawn and an evil smirk on her face.

"Hello there, turtles. It's been a while since last time, eh?" Her eyes fell on Splinter and her smirk grew even more sinister. "Well, hello there, Splinter. Didn't expect to see you out and about. Sick of hiding in the sewers like a coward?" Splinter tensed and almost dropped his staff in shock.

"Miwa..." It was barely above a whisper, but I heard it. He sounded heartbroken, yet at the same time shocked, as if he hadn't expected to see her here and was both stunned and disheartened because of it. And it wasn't that hard to understand why. It wasn't exactly easy to grip that your own daughter was the reason one of your sons was gone. You know, on top of the fact that she was also his long lost child and stuff. And then see her right in front of him, like this? Pretty harsh, right? He recovered pretty quickly though and gripped the staff tighter than before. Raph's eyes were burning with anger and it was a wonder that he hadn't run forward to stab her in the chest with his sai.

"Karai... What do you want? Don't you have anything better to do than always getting in our way?" She just rolled her eyes and smirked at him. She was playing with him like a cat with a mouse.

"Oh, sorry for being inconvienient. When would you like to die, slowly and painfully, and have your shells used as decorations in my bedroom?" As she spoke her voice got angrier and she was only a second away from yelling at him. Leo narrowed his eyes at her and pointed the tip of his sword at her heart, his posture and face screaming that he had had enough of her as a whole.

"Did you forget our talk, Karai? I am _not_ going to go feel sorry for you anymore! I'll do what I have to to stop you and your so-called 'father' from destroying my family. Or the entire planet." Her smirk turned into a scowl and she copied his silent threat of being stabbed, the wicked tip of her blade aimed at his throat.

"Yes, I remember that. However, I also remember that I said you and your pathetic family would pay for what you've done to my family- to my mother! My father has given his orders, and I intend to finish what I started with your pathetic excuse for a brother!" I gulped, tightened my grip on my nunchucks and had to swallow hard to fight back the tears. How could a human being say something so cruel, so heartless? How could she spew such poison without feeling the least bit sorry? Raph gritted his teeth and gripped his sai so tightly they almost started to turn white, his eyes almost on fire.

"Don't you _dare_ talk about him like that! You have no right to-!" Leo placed his arm in front of Raph to stop him, but his eyes were also murderously trained on Karai. Seeing my older brothers like this was kinda scary. I looked up at Master Splinter, who didn't exactly look like he wanted to fight right now either. He placed his hands on Leo and Raph's shoulders.

"We have no time for fighting, my sons. We must leave the city- now!" We moved towards the doors to the Shellraiser, but before we could run in and drive away, Fishface jumped down from the roof and placed himself between us and our chance at escape with bared teeth and his knives drawn.

"You have no choice, freaks! You will fight or we will chase you down until we find you- or until we destroy you; whichever comes first." Raph and I looked at Leo, who still had his swords drawn. He looked from us to Karai and back to us before he sighed and turned back to our enemies.

"We have no choice. We have to face them." Raph and I glanced at each other, both of us unsure, although he was better at hiding it than me. It was weird; Raph loved to fight, and now he didn't look like he wanted to fight at all. Leo didn't wait for a response- he took a single step closer to Karai, swords still raised threateningly. It was a small gesture, not enough to start a full-on melee, but I still felt a small bit of pride when Karai automatically skittered back a step before catching herself and standing her ground.

"You wanna fight, Karai? Fine, let's fight!" But before any one of us could start the fight, a loud crash of thunder was heard, lightning flashed, and everyone gazed up at the sky. Even Shredder's henchmutants appeared to be surprised at the sudden change of weather. The sky had gotten darker, cloudier, and snow-mixed rain had started to fall despite it only being a week into September. And suddenly Shredder was standing there, his cape flowing in the watery wind, his sinister eyes scanning over us with hatred and sickening amusement.

My eyes widened and my nunchucks almost fell out of my hands.

"It's the Shredder! It was a trap- they followed us here!" I pointed hysterically, yelling almost at the top of my lungs. Leo and Raph had been thrown off by the Shredder's sudden appearance from out of nowhere, and Karai also looked like this wasn't part of her plan.

"Yes." Shredder's deep, dark voice appeared from above us. "The Invasion of this wretched city is about to begin, and now, it is time for you to meet your doom." And with that said, Shredder jumped down from the rooftop, his claws drawn and aimed at Master Splinter's neck.

* * *

(April's P.O.V)

 _About fifteen minutes earlier..._

Dad packed the last of his shirts in his bag before he closed it and carried it to the front door. Casey leaned against the wall in the hallway, trying to stay out of his way and attempting to look casual with his hands in his pockets. You know, as if we weren't about to flee the city to get away from the Kraang. I was standing at the door with Dad's other bag in hand, waiting for him to put his shoes and jacket on.

"Are you sure you'll be alright, April? I mean, I trust Robyn- she's my sister. But-" I smiled and tried to shrug him off by placing my hand on his shoulder and kissing him on the cheek.

"I'll be fine, Dad. I've stayed with Aunt Robyn for a longer time- while you were..." I trailed off and tried to find the right words, "you know, gone, and I know she'll take good care of me. And I'll have Casey and the guys to look after me if I need it." Dad grimaced a little when I mentioned the guys and looked away for a second.

"Ah, yes. The Turtles." He said 'turtles' as if the word made him sick, and then he looked up at me with more concern in his eyes. "I'm just not comfortable with leaving you alone again. You haven't been acting like yourself for a long time now, and you haven't really told me why. Is there something bothering you, April?" I bit my lip and gazed over at Casey, who also looked a little unsure of what I should say. I mentally debated with myself on whether I should tell him the truth or just come up with a white lie or an innocent excuse.

"I-it's nothing, Dad. Really. I've just been a little... well, you know, under the weather lately." Dad frowned suspiciously at me and placed a firm hand on my shoulder.

"April, I may be getting older, and some of my senses may not be as good as they used to be. But I can clearly see that there is something more than you just being a little 'under the weather.' What's going on, April?" I bit my lip and desperatley tried to think up a good excuse. But after about a good minute of mental debating, I sighed and looked him in the eyes.

"Well, a-after a mission where we fought the Kraang," I could see him get tense by just mentioning that name, but chose to ignore it and kept talking, while also trying to fight my tears,"their portal malfunctioned and," I had to stop and clear my throat as my withheld tears ached in my pharynx, "and Donnie fell through it, ending up who knows where." My eyes travelled down to the floor and locked on my boots and small tears found their way out through the corners of my eyes. "He probably won't come back home. Ever." An involuntary sniffle made its way out of my nose and mouth and my dad immediately noticed. He stroked my hair and kissed me on the forehead.

"Oh, April. I'm so sorry. I know Donatello was a very close friend of yours- not to mention everything he's personally done to help me... and you. Are you really sure you don't want to come with me, then? I really think it might be good for you to get away from this city and relax on a beach for a few weeks. And it might also be good for you to get away from," he leaned closer to say something Casey wouldn't hear, "certain people you hang around a lot." He didn't say the Turtles, but he didn't have to. I caught onto it the second he said it, and I frowned at his words, but tried to just let it slide off my face and smile at him instead.

"I'm sure, Dad. I want to stay here. I need to catch up on school, too, right? I have a lot to do after being absent for so long; the last thing I need right now is to be held back a year because of bad grades, right?" He sighed heavily, but nodded and stroked my hair again, hugging me.

"Well, I guess that's up to you, April. I think you're getting old enough to decide for yourself on these things." He looked down at his wristwatch. "But I have to leave now. The plane leaves in about an hour. I'll call you as often as I can- and take care of yourself, Sweetheart. I'll see you in two weeks." I hugged him again, knowing I probably wouldn't see him in two weeks like he'd said. But of course I didn't say that aloud.

"I'll miss you, Dad. Love you." He hugged me, kissed me on the head again and then picked up his bags and walked through the door, closing it behind him and locking it. I sighed and leaned back against the door. Casey walked up to me and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

"I... I take it your old man isn't too fond of the Turtles?" I shook my head and brushed my bangs out of my face.

"No, I don't think he has any problem with the Turtles as people, so to speak- it's more the trouble that seems to come with being around them. Seeing how the Kraang are after me and I'm being trained to be a kunoichi, he's worried I'll get killed one of these days. And since the Turtles fight the Kraang and Shredder on a regular basis, he thinks it would be best if I stayed away from them. Permanently." Casey nodded, still a little awkward, and looked around the apartment, his hands back in his pockets.

"So... now what?" I shrugged and walked out into the living room and sat down on the couch, crossing my arms over my chest, and leaned my head back.

"I don't know. I guess we'll wait for the guys to come pick us up and then we'll leave town." Casey sidled over and sat down beside me, looking like he was itching to get out out of the apartment and look for the guys rather than just sit around and wait, but he didn't say anything about. I bit the inside of my lip and tried to think of something to say.

"So, uh, why did you want to come here with me? Why didn't you stay with the guys?" Casey swallowed and rested his arms on the back of the couch. It was a little weird to see Casey like this, since he usually acted like he was all that and nothing could shake him. Now he seemed to be uncomfortable more than anything else.

"Uh, I dunno. I mean, with the Kraang invasion coming any day now, I guess I wanted to make sure you got here alright." His cheeks got a tad red and he suddenly seemed to find the floor and his shoes unbelievably interesting. I felt my own cheeks flush and I looked away from him so he couldn't see the smile I tried to fight back.

The next couple of minutes consisted of Casey looking out the window at the suddenly cloudy sky and me playing with my ponytail and trying to think of something smart-slash-interesting to say. The minutes seemed to drag forward at a snail's pace, and I glanced over at the T-phone in my pocket, thinking over whether I should call the others or not.

I sighed and leaned back against the back of the couch, my shoulder touching Casey's arm, making us both jump out of our thoughts and look up at each other again. Casey pulled his arm back and I sat up straight again, both of us staring, like deer caught in headlights, at each other. But then Casey slowly put his arm back on the couch, inviting me to either move away or sit still where I was. And eventually I felt myself relax and sat back against the couch, leaning slightly into Casey's side. His fingers were gently brushing against my other shoulder, and I couldn't decide whether I liked it or not. I licked my lips and looked up at Casey, who was staring out the window again.

"Uh, Casey?" Casey looked back at me. "What are you doing?" He looked down at his arm and his hand, that was brushing against my shoulder, and quickly tried to pull away.

"Oh! Uh, sorry, Red. Didn't realize what I was doing-" I placed my hand on his arm and he stopped pulling it away from me.

"No, it's not that. I just, well, I was just wondering why you were doing it. I mean, we're friends and it's not like I can't stand you touching me. It's just that, well, you know..." He nodded and looked away again before turning back to me, our eyes locking. The connection between us was like nothing I had ever felt before. I felt warm, my cheeks as red as my hair, and I felt tiny beads of sweat forming under my arms and along my hairline. Casey also seemed to feel warm and drew a little closer to me. His arm went from around my shoulders to a little lower, around my waist, and I let him do it. It was like we were both in a trance that we couldn't break out of. He brushed some of my hair out of my face and I leaned into his touch, just a little. And then, it happened. Casey leaned in closer to me, I leaned closer to him, and our lips met.

I had kissed boys before- on dares back in kindergarten and elementary school, and sometimes I had given Donnie a peck on the cheek. But this felt different. Figurative fireworks seemed to go off in my head, my lips were on fire and I also felt a vague taste of chocolate on his lips.

But at the same time it felt wrong. I wasn't ready for this and I didn't like Casey enough to have this kind of relationship with him. Not yet, but maybe in the future- someday.

The kiss only lasted for a few seconds, and when we pulled away I had no idea what to say or do. Casey pulled his arm away from my waist and rubbed the back of his neck, staring down at the floor with a mad blush on his face. I bit my lip and played with a string of my hair.

"So..." Casey said, like he had nothing better to say, and I nodded automatically, like a robot.

"Yeah." I sighed and turned to look at Casey. "Look, Casey, I'm just gonna say this now, 'cause I really don't want this to be awkward or misinterpreted in any way." Casey nodded, and I took another deep breath. "I... I like you, Casey, but I don't think I'm ready for this kind of relationship yet. It's not you, I'm just not ready for this." Casey's eyes were focused entirely on me as I spoke, and once I finished, he nodded understandingly but still disappointedly.

"Yeah, okay. If that's how you really feel, I can respect it." I couldn't help but feel bad for him- he just looked like a kicked puppy. He lowered his head and stared down into his lap, as if trying to hide the fact that he was disappointed from me, but I could see it anyway and decided to change the subject.

"So... uh, when do you think the guys'll get here? It's taking them quite some time, don't you think?" Casey looked up and his cocky smirk was back again, which made me feel a little better.

"Aw, don't worry about it, Red. I'm sure they'll be here any minute now." I frowned and bit my lip.

"I don't know. I have a weird feeling that something's wrong. Maybe we should check in on them." I pulled out my T-phone and was about to call up Leo's number when Casey pushed the phone down into my lap with a reassuring-yet-a-bit-too-confident-for-me-to-calm-down smile.

"Come on, April. You know the guys can handle themselves, and Splinter and Leatherhead're with them. What could possibly have happened in the twenty minutes it takes to drive from their place to yours?" I looked away from Casey, put the phone back in my pocket and stared out the window at the almost empty streets and the rain pouring down like some Heavenly floodgate had burst.

"Anything, Casey. Absolutely anything."

* * *

(Leo's P.O.V)

Master Splinter barely managed to dodge Shredder's claws and jump back to avoid any other attack before he readied himself with his staff and used it to deflect Shredder's attacks while trying to get hit in on him. Fishface threw himself at Raph with his big knives drawn, and Mikey found himself busy with Rahzar and his razor-sharp teeth and claws. But that was all I had time to see before Karai jumped at me with a drawn tantō and a yell of anger. I threw up my sword to block her and kicked at her chest, throwing her back and hitting a dumpster. But she quickly got up again, picked up her tantō and swung it at my face.

"Finally, you'll all pay for what you've done!" I blocked her attack again and swung both my swords at her head, having to hold back my yells, and tried to keep as calm as possible in the given situation.

"What _we've_ done? What about what _you've_ done? You've done nothing but try to kill us for almost a whole year! Just because your so-called 'father' couldn't accept your mother was in love with someone else? Yeah, you're the embodiment of honour, you and your family! I'm sure Tang Shen would be so proud." Karai growled at me and I could sense that she wanted to yell at me, but I was faster. As she threw her sword at my head again, I blocked it, and it ended up being a battle of who was gonna give in first and stop pushing back against each other's weapons.

"Oh, right, and then there's the fact that you've murdered my brother! I don't think you have any room to criticise anyone for doing horrible things!" Her scowl grew and she purposely drew her arm back, making me involuntarily tilt forward, and she slammed her forehead into mine, making me stumble back and leaving me vulnerable for an attack. In the corner of my eye I saw Splinter and Shredder fighting, and Tiger Claw taking a jab at Leatherhead, but then had to get back on track as Karai flew towards me with her sword over her head, looking ready to kill. I rolled out of the way, grabbed her wrist before she could grasp what happened, squeezed it hard enough to make her drop the weapon, and pushed her arm up and behind her back. As she grunted in pain I raised my foot and kicked the backs of her knees and knocked her to the ground and straddled her back to keep her from getting up again. She cried out in pain again as she hit the ground, but then managed to grasp her sword and swiped it at my cheek, forcing me to let go of her wrist and jump back.

She got up again and aimed her blade at my heart. "Don't you dare try to desecrate my mother's memory! Or to put the blame on my father! He is the victim of your master's cold heart and cruel ways! He has to pay for what he's done!" I picked up my own swords again and glared at her, hate in my eyes.

"Oh, so it's okay for _you_ to make fun of _my deceased_ _brother,_ huh? And what about what _you've_ done?! You're supporting an alien invasion, and the deaths of people who've done you no wrong! You should probably take a step back from your distorted picture of how miserable your life is to see how you are affecting the entire world by doing what you're doing!" She just rolled her eyes and swung her sword at me again, raising her leg to kick me in the chest. I managed to dodge the sword, but by doing so she managed to land her kick in my face and for a second, my vision was blurred. And while I couldn't see very well, she punched me in the cheek and swept my feet out from under me, sending me to the ground. Rubbing my cheek, I jumped back to my feet and readied myself for another attack.

A loud crash made us all look up again and I only barely saw Tiger Claw shoot Leatherhead with one of his many guns, the reptilian mutant stumbling back and falling, crashing through a building and not getting up again. Mikey's eyes widened and he nearly dropped his nunchucks in shock.

"Leatherhead!" He almost forgot about fighting Rahzar and ran towards the building to help his friend, only to have Rahzar block his way and threaten him with his claws.

"You're not going anywhere, turtle. Not until I have your bones to chew on." Mikey took a step back, looking tempted to ignore Rahzar and run to Leatherhead anyway, but then decided against it when Rahzar swiped at him with his long claws and then seemed to more or less forget about Leatherhead for the time being.

While I watched this, I had forgotten about Karai for a moment, and was then reminded when she came running from my left with her sword in her hand, looking more and more murderous by the second, and almost seemed to just swing her sword as if she didn't care about actual skill, but rather just landing a hit on me. I tried my best to block her attacks, swung my katana at her one second, tried to kick or punch her the second, but none of us managed to actually get a hit in. And then, it happened.

Karai let out a yell of anger, kicked me me as hard as she could in the kneecap, and I literally felt the bone jump out of joint and I fell to the ground to both take the weight off of it and to cradle it to myself. But what I hadn't seen was that Karai had swung her sword at me, and when I went down to sit on my knees, her sword managed to pierce through my skin.

An unbelievably searing pain shot through my body. I wanted to yell in pain but all I managed to get over my lips was a choked gasp. I looked down to see Karai's sword in my slightly more unprotected side.

I passed out.

* * *

(Raph's P.O.V)

I just managed to kick Fishface to the ground when I heard the indubitable sound of a sharp weapon stabbing through keratin and skin and turned around to look over my shoulder just in time to see Leo fall to the ground with Karai's sword in his side, and Karai standing beside him with a shocked 'what have I done' look on her face. But, in a way she still looked kinda smug over what had just happened, and I could see that Shredder was pleased with what she'd done.

"Well done, Karai. You have made me proud." He stopped fighting Splinter, who also watched with wide eyes and dropped jaw. His eyes seemed to relive the nightmares he'd had for the past three months. Mikey just stared, nunchuks slipping from his lax hands, almost in a trance. I finally managed to get it through my skull what had just happened and my anger kicked in. Not missing a beat, as usual.

"LEO!" I ran up to my brother, ready to pummel Karai aside, but she moved out of my way on her own, still looking as though she was in some sort of trance too. But I didn't care about her anymore. I dropped down on my knees and looked him over. His face had started to get paler, his eyes were only slightly open and rather unfocused and he was getting colder and colder, especially because of the snow-mixed rain. A little blood started to seep out of his wounded side and that was the only reason I didn't pull the blade out immediately. I knew he would only bleed more if I did.

"Leo. Leo, come on, look at me." I placed my arm around Leo's shoulders and placed his upper body in my lap before I patted the side of his face as hard as I dared to try and rouse him. "Leo, come on, wake up! Look at me!" I saw from the corner of my eye as Splinter and Mikey ran up to me and Leo and stood in front of us to deal with anyone who could try to attack and kill us. But my eyes were only on Leo. I felt tears form in my eyes, and I tried to blink them away, only to find more coming.

"Come on, Leo. Please! I can't lose you, too! Please, look at me." Leo stirred a little and blinked a few times before his eyes moved up to my face. A small stream of blood seeped out of his mouth and it made me a little queasy.

"R-Raph..." His voice was weak, and the R was slightly slurred, so it sounded like he said 'Aph' instead of Raph. But I just nodded and took his hand.

"Don't worry, Leo, we're gonna get you out of here. Just hang in there." A shadow fell over us and I looked up to find Shredder standing there with his gauntlet's infamous blades drawn.

"He's still alive? Hm, I'd better put him out of his misery." I hugged Leo close to me, protecting him with all of the armor my shell, plastron, and everything in between could offer, hoping Shredder would get me instead of Leo. At the very least I hoped my tissues and various protective layerings would slow his wickedly sharp blades down.

Before the Shredder could impale us, Splinter jumped in front of us and blocked the attack with his staff.

"NO! You will not lay a hand on my sons! You have already stolen one from me, and I will not let you take my remaining sons!" He pushed back on Shredder's claws, punched him in the gut and the kicked him into a building. Before he had time to get up, Mikey knelt down beside me and looked Leo over.

"Is he okay?" I shook my head and gazed over at my baby brother. I had no idea what to say- I wasn't exactly a doctor. All I could do was get Leo out of there, alive, by using what little medical knowledge I had to offer. I'd already decided against removing the katana from his side, but consequently, moving him would now be a bigger issue. I wasn't totally sure on what would happen, but I got the feeling that the blade could easily tear him up more if it was jostled too much. I carefully moved to kneel by Leo's injured side, leaving the easier side for Mikey to handle. I then slipped my arms with utmost care under his neck and the middle of his thighs.

"I don't know, but it looks bad. But we'll have to look at it later! Now we have to get out of here, so come on! Help me carry him!" Mikey immediately nodded and moved to mirror my position, and, working in tandem, we carefully lifted our oldest brother and headed for our only way out of here. Our movements caught our father's eye, and Master Splinter took a good long look at Leo, his eyes going from enraged and protective to saddened in less than a second.

"Leonardo..." Then he shook his head and moved towards the Shellraiser right beside us. "Come now, my sons! We must hurry!" Mikey and I hurried as much as we dared with Leo gasping in pain with every other step we took, and soon we were at the open side door of the Shellraiser.

Shredder got up from the ground at pointed at us. "Do not let them escape! Destroy them!" Karai immediately ran at us with one of Fishface's knives in her hand and Tiger Claw was close behind her. I growled and then quickly finished laying Leo on the floor of the Shellraiser, exchanging a solemn nod with Mikey and wordlessly giving Leo's care over to him so he could look him over while Splinter and I handled Karai and Tiger Claw.

Splinter used his staff to block Tiger Claw's attacks while using his Nerve Points of Death to defeat him. I drew my sai again and pushed against Karai's knife, but then stumbled over something, looking down to see Splinter's bag fall over and a piece of paper fly out, landing on the ground. A photo. A photo of Splinter in human form with Tang Shen and baby Karai.

Karai looked down at the photo and picked it up, looking it over with her knife still extended toward me as a warning to keep my distance while she studied the item that had so caught her interest. Her eyes widened in realization after only a few seconds, and her other hand fell to her side, fingers trembling before going slack, releasing the blade altogether. She shook her head slowly as if trying to process what she saw.

I wanted to stay and rub it in how wrong she'd been, and didn't she see it now? But I saw that Splinter had managed to take down Tiger Claw and was running towards us, so I quickly snatched the photo out of Karai's hand just in time to see Splinter jump into the side of the Shellraiser and then slam the doors shut.

I ran over to the driver's side and took the wheel, starting to drive down the street again, and I had a feeling that Shredder and his mutants were after us. I called over my shoulder that Mikey had to call April and Casey and tell them to wait outside of her apartment so they could jump in immediately without wasting any time.

I slammed on the brakes just outside of April's apartment, and April and Casey stood there with small bags in their hands, about to run in when the next surprise came.

Thunder rolled right after lightning danced across the sky and then, out of nowhere, big, triangle-shaped Kraang-portals appeared in the sky and Kraang-bots walked through with weapons in their hands. April's eyes widened.

"It's the Kraang! The Invasion's beginning!" I felt my blood freeze in my veins and shouted at them to hurry up and get in so we could drive out of the city. Both April and Casey looked down on Leo and saw the small sword in his side. April's eyes widened and she kneeled down beside him to help Master Splinter with his injuries, while Mikey and Casey manned the other stations.

More and more Kraang started to fill the streets. People ran around in panic as the robots carried around guns with their perfected mutagen and showered innocent people with it, leaving them as half-human/half-Kraang hybrids. I felt my heart clench and looked over my shoulder at the others. They looked so broken. Leo was injured and out cold, possibly dying, Master Splinter looked broken beyond compare, Mikey was silently crying and both April and Casey looked at us with lost eyes. I sighed and looked over at April.

"Hey, April? You mind giving me directions to that farmhouse you were talking about? I have a feeling you know the way better than I do." April got up on her feet and came over to me to give me directions. But I hardly heard a word she said. I just looked at the screens showing the streets and the city outside of our van. I sighed and closed my eyes to kill my tears.

Our home was falling apart, and there was nothing we could do at the moment to fix it.

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 **A/N: And finally I have that chapter out of the way! Now I can focus on more fun things! Like Filione and more aliens for us to meet! I've been wanting to write about that a lot more than this chapter, so I hope my muse doesn't leave anytime soon again. And don't worry, I don't plan on having Leo in a coma like in the show. But I'm not gonna say any more than that. We'll take a small break from Earth and travel back into the galaxy for a short while.**

 **Now I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	35. Chapter 34, Landing on Filione

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Hello! I am back! And before I say anything else, I wanna take a moment to say that this story, Tuesday August 2nd, officially turns a year old. That's right, today is the One Year Anniversary for A Million Miles Apart! And I wanna thank each and everyone of you who reads this story and has stayed with it for a year. And I wanna give a special thank you to my beta reader, ThisVioletofMine, who has been helping me and has proof-read my chapters since Day 1.**

 **Thank you all! I love you for favoriting, following and reviewing my story! You are amazing and I love you!**

 **I had hoped that I could write more and update more often, but of course, surprise surprise, writer's block strikes. Well that, and I've been at my cousin's place for a week. But I hope I'll be able update more, now that I don't have to spend time with my cousins! ...Okay, that came out a bit wrong, but whatever. I am also excited, since I've started working at this residential home for a few weeks. My first real job! So excited!**

 **Uh, I got a bit sidetracked there... Uh, anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 34, Landing on Filione

A painful slam to my forehead made me jerk awake and sit up straight, looking around the room. The ship had stopped shaking and we were finally going at a more normal pace again. I rubbed my aching forehead and looked down at the keyboard in front of me. I must have fallen forward when the ship slowed down and slammed my head on the metal in front of me. I sat up properly and took stock of my surroundings. It seemed like everyone else had passed out, too, since Jhanna, Starlee and Mona Lisa were slumped in their seats and Traximus wasn't moving at all- though it was harder to tell with him, since he was too big for the pod and didn't sit properly in it.

I looked over at Jhanna, who was leaning against the backrest, her cheek resting against her right shoulder. I guess she had been lucky enough to not slam her head on solid metal. Hmph, typical. I placed my hand on her shoulder and shook her gently.

"Jhanna? Hey, Jhanna, wake up!" She groaned and sat up, rubbing her hands over her face. She blinked a few times, pushed her hair out of her face and then turned to look at me with a partially nauseous and partially annoyed expression.

"Ugh, wormholes. Not for me." Her voice was dry and rough as sandpaper and she still looked dizzy from all the shaking. Not that I could blame her- I still felt ready to throw up and my head was still spinning in circles after everything I had seen and been put through while going through that hole. So I nodded at her and rubbed my head to try and soothe my headache and quell the growing dizziness.

"Yeah, that felt like being... disassembled into atoms and then put back together again." She nodded and grimaced in painful agreement.

"Yeah, or being pressed through a keyhole." I couldn't help but snicker at her dry comment, but it was a rather humourless laugh. Then groaning was heard from the other pod and when Jhanna and I looked, both Starlee and Mona Lisa were coming to again. Jhanna stood and climbed out of the pod, albeit on shaky legs since she was still dizzy and hadn't regained her sense of balance just yet. But nevertheless, she stumbled over to the pod and to Starlee. She sat down on the edge of the armrest and placed her arm around her sister.

"You okay, Star?" Starlee rubbed her head and nodded, though she looked about as sick and dizzy as the rest of us. The goggles she usually had pushed up on her forehead had slipped down and were now hanging loosely around her neck, most of her hair had fallen out of her usual tidy and high ponytail, and her eyes were tired as opposed to the usual excited and happy spark that always seemed to shine in them.

"Yeah, I think so. Just a little banged up, that's all." Jhanna pulled the band out of Starlee's hair and re-tied her ponytail while combing through the thick, slightly curly hair with her fingers.

"So... you still think going through wormholes is exciting and fun?" Starlee just glared up at her sister and stuck her tongue out at her, at which Jhanna smirked and gently pulled the goggles up onto her sister's forehead again, even though Starlee protested and said she could do it herself.

"Yeah, I know you can. But I'm your big sister, which means I have an obligation to look out for you. Especially now that Moriah and Dad aren't here to do it." Starlee just rolled her eyes, but I couldn't help but smile at the scene. Jhanna and Starlee were as different as night and day, but they still acted like actual sisters. They disagreed on things, had small arguments, but could do it with tongue in cheek. Like siblings do. Like when Raph would tease or poke fun at us in his usual Raph-way, but we'd always know he didn't mean to hurt our feelings or do any harm, just poke fun at us. It was just Raph being Raph. In fact, we all had moments when we teased each other like that.

A small pang of homesickness hit me again, but before the seed could root itself in my brain, I turned to look over at Mona Lisa, who was also retying her ponytail with that pink ribbon she always carried on her, either by tying her hair with it or knotting it around her wrist. I slowly got out of the pod, rested against it to fully regain my balance, and then went to the others.

"Is everybody okay?" Starlee nodded at me and smiled, but Mona looked up at me with a raised eyebrow as though she thought I'd asked a question to which the answer should be obvious.

"If you, by 'okay', mean that I've been shaken around like a rag doll and almost threw up more than once but couldn't due the fact that I couldn't move a muscle, let alone speak," She finished tying the bow in her hair, only to have it loosen up and fall down in her lap. She groaned and picked it up again, "then yes, I'm totally okay." I rolled my eyes at her and tried to grab her ribbon to help her.

"Here, let me help you." When she saw me almost touch her ribbon, she yanked it away and glared up at me, looking like a hungry Mikey protecting his pizza.

" _NO_! You can't touch this! Not ever!" She kept glaring at me as she gathered up her hair and tied a tidy little knot to keep it tied up, this time succeeding in keeping the band together. I held up my hands in a defensive motion and backed away from her. I only gave her a tiny frown, to show I wasn't going to take her snapping at me like that.

"Okay! Sorry that I tried to be _nice_." I turned and went to Traximus, but in the corner of my eye I saw how Mona's face seemed to sink in slight regret for blowing her top, but I didn't pay her much attention and instead looked over the Triceraton, who was now struggling to get out of his pod without losing his balance. He recovered much quicker than the rest of us, though (I was still feeling a little woozy, honestly), and stood up without problems after just a few seconds.

"Heh, that was quite a ride, huh?" I chuckled and he smiled back at me.

"Mm, yes. But it's not the first time I have gone through a wormhole. When I was a warrior in the Triceratons' army, we often took these holes as shortcuts- to catch the enemy off-guard. You get used to all the shaking after a while." I scoffed and rolled my eyes at him. Just the thought of going through so many of these wormholes that you got used to it was impossible for me. I looked over at the control panels, where the Fugitoid stood and regained his own balance. Then he looked up and smiled his usual smile.

"Whoa... Hehe, a couple of near few seconds away from getting crushed by the gravitational acceleration of a wormhole won't deter us! Am I right or am I right?" He sounded as cheery and optimistic as he always did and spun his head around a couple of times, as if the ride hadn't bothered him at all. Mona Lisa glared up at him, clearly not as thrilled as he was.

"Are you crazy?! We were almost splattered all over the walls, here!" I had heard Mona sound disinterested, sarcastic and angry before, but now she sounded pretty close to enraged. But the Professor didn't seem to hear the tone in her voice, and kept talking like an excited child.

"That's right! _Almost_. Almost is such a beautiful phenomenon, is it not?" Starlee looked at him with a hint of uncertainty in her eyes, and Jhanna placed her hands on her sister's shoulders and pulled her close, as if to protect her. I looked between Mona and the Professor up at the control panels and rolled my eyes at the small banter between the two.

"Yeah, well all I know is that I never wanna go through that kind of 'phenomenon', ever again. Are we there yet, or what?" The Professor just pointed out the window and smiled his robot smile.

"Well, why don't you come and see for yourself?" Mona immediately perked up and literally jumped out of the pod, starting to run towards the big windows, falling to her knees almost immediately but quickly getting up on her feet again and half-running/half-stumbling to the Professor's side to look out the big windows. I felt my own curiosity grow and started to jog over to the window to see for myself, watching the others get up and walk over to the window from my periphery. When I walked up the small stairs to the window, I felt like I had been punched right in the gut.

 _"Oh, dear God above, why do you insist on torturing me?"_

What I saw was a relatively small planet, but as we got closer it started to get bigger, and it was a generally green planet. A green planet with big blue waters and so close to being almost identical to Earth. Only a little bit smaller, or at least so I assumed. I had read about the Earth's mass and how big it was, and judging by how this planet looked it seemed a bit smaller. And, as opposed to Earth, it seemed to have a kind of heavenly aura around it. Almost like a glow that made it seem more, for lack of a better word, alive than Earth. But still, it felt like slap in the face. Although I had to admit, it was a beautiful sight. And even though I got a little bit teary-eyed I could honestly say that it wasn't just because I was feeling homesick and missed my own planet.

Mona Lisa looked out the window in awe and I could see that she was crying, openly and unashamed. And who could really blame her? She had been away from home for almost ten years. Of course she'd have a strong reaction to see her home again. Jhanna and Starlee walked up to us and Starlee's eyes immediately widened and she smiled at the sight.

"Wow... it's so beautiful." Mona looked over to the younger girl and smiled lightly. I couldn't look away from the planet, and without thinking at all, the words managed to slip out of my mouth.

"It looks like Earth. Only more, I dunno, alive, I guess." Mona looked at me, nodded and looked back out again.

"Yes. My people have taken care of the planet for thousands of years-and without any sort of technology whatsoever. That's what makes the planet's health all the more real, without the artificial help from cold, dead metal and computers. It's been our philosophy that technology poisons the mind, and the world if used too much. Which is why the only technology we have on our planets are the spaceships and nothing else. Everything else is taken care of in our own way. The Salamandarian way." Jhanna, who had also looked out the window with awe, raised her eyebrow at Mona.

"The Salamandarian way? What's that?" Mona looked back at Jhanna and eyed her, questioning and confused. Then she shrugged and looked back out the window, drying her eyes with her arm.

"Well, we've always taken care of our planet. The forests, the rivers and seas, the animals. And we do it without any tech or anything like that. We take care of everything with love and caring, taking our time to fully let it grow and live. It's practically in our DNA. It's in our culture, in our blood. We grow fruit, vegetables and different plants that can only grow on our planet, that we sell to different planets. Or we use the plants and fruits to make medical ointments and potions. Other than that, we just mind our own business and don't really have any contact with other aliens." Her smile faded and she looked down to the floor.

"That is, until the Triceratons attacked our planet and killed over half of our population. Since then they've kept an iron fist over us and made us follow them, or else. And we are not warriors, so we had no choice but to do as they told us. Fortunately they didn't pay too much attention to us, and only took some of our produce. Other than that, they usually leave us alone. But one day, some Salamandarians stood up to them and told them that we were not their slaves and tried to fight back. Then, instead taking our produce, they took half the youngest on the planet. To scare the others into not fighting back against them." My eyes widened and I realized that this girl had grown up in a world where the Triceratons had ruled over their people, and had been taught that she couldn't do anything to fight back. Suddenly her attitude started to make sense. She caught my look and shrugged it off.

"Eh, it's no big deal. I don't ever remember the Triceratons caring too much about Filione. They just kinda did it to make sure we didn't get the idea to ally ourselves with any other aliens to try and defeat them." Traximus sighed as we walked up behind us.

"Mm, yes. The Triceratons have done that to several other planets for many, many years. They arrive on different planets and frighten them into obeying them and making sure they don't try to fight back. Some planets refused and drew war over themselves. Others obeyed without second thoughts. And the others that were left alone were left scared of what the Triceratons might do, should they land on their planets. Leaving many aliens scared and confused." He growled in disgust.

"Zanramon feeds on the fear of his victims and the planets he terrorizes. And he also enjoys the fear and pain he causes." He looked over at Mona with sympathy. "I'm sorry for how my people affected your world, Mona Lisa." Mona just nodded and rubbed her arm bashfully.

"Thanks." She muttered and then turned to the Professor. "How soon can we land?" The Professor walked away from the computers and up to us.

"Well, as soon as everyone has their gear on. We'll take the stealth ship. That way we can land without drawing too much attention to ourselves. The Salamandarians may not be too thrilled about having a big unknown ship land on their planet without warning." I nodded. Yeah, people on Earth would most likely not like it if a strange alien ship landed on their planet without warning. I mean, they hadn't exactly appreciated that first alien invasion.

Jhanna was already dressed in her spacesuit and most of her space gear, so while the rest of us gathered up our own gear, she picked out a helmet and gathered up her sword and small laser gun. My own purple spacesuit had been left pretty much untouched since that first day onboard, so it felt a little weird to put it on now. I didn't really understand why I needed it. Mona Lisa didn't have one, and she had done fine when we escaped the Triceraton Prison. So I decided against putting it on, and just go au naturel. Though in the room with all those spacesuits I managed to find a collar that worked like that breathing apparatus Jhanna and I had gotten from the Triceratons and decided to put that on, just in case Filione's air wouldn't agree with Earthlings. Though I seriously doubted it. Jhanna helped Starlee put on a breathing-collar and some minor protective gear that could help her if we were attacked. But she refused to put on a spacesuit and take off her Federation uniform.

"Why should I wear anything different? I am Federation and I'm proud of that. I am who I am, and I shouldn't have to look or act any different." I had expected Jhanna to roll her eyes and say that being part of the Federation was nothing to be proud of and that they were responsible for hundreds and thousands of aliens' deaths, or at least force her to wear one for her own protection from the cold in space, but she just threw her up her hands and left her alone.

"Whatever. That's your call." Traximus already had on his black spacesuit, a helmet and a laser gun in his belt. But only in case we were attacked, he said. Mona Lisa didn't put anything on, had no weapons and she basically just sat around in the control room, waiting for the rest of us, looking very restless and impatient. So when we were all done, the Professor led us out of the control room and to the lower region of the ship.

The stealth ship was a smaller part of the ship, with seats for six people, so we all sat down. Except the Professor, who manned the controls and steered the ship. Jhanna looked over at me and eyed the collar around my neck and my body.

"You're not gonna wear your suit? Or a helmet? You realize you're in space, right? Not every planet is gonna be so close to your planet's atmosphere and temperature." I shrugged and fingered the strap over my chest.

"Yeah, I know. But I don't think I'll need it. I mean, I have the collar and I'm sure there's some technology onboard that could help me with the cold or heat on any different planet, should the need rise. I'll survive." Jhanna crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes.

"Ugh, yeah, yeah. Tell yourself that, if that makes you feel better. But it doesn't make it true." I glanced over at her and for a second; considered her words. Then I felt the stealth ship drop out of the ship and start flying through space and towards the planet in front of us, and quickly rejected her warning.

As we flew through the planet's atmosphere, I gazed down over the landscape under us. And it was a breathtaking sight. I had never been out of New York in my life, let alone seen a real forest before, but this planet's nature was beautiful. The green trees and grass, the blue waters and the colours of the flowers and nature itself were so vibrant. Nothing had ever looked so green like those trees, or as blue as those lakes and rivers. And as we got closer to the ground, I could see creatures, too. Some looked very similar too Mona Lisa, Salamandarian-like creatures that all looked up at us as we flew over their world. And some looked more like animals. But not like anything I had seen in books, on the internet or on TV back on Earth. There were some that reminded me of deer, only they had antlers and fangs sticking out of their mouths. I saw huge, wormlike things, with spider legs sticking out from their sides and spider-like faces with big eyes and huge teeth. And some looked like small dragons, also in very vibrant colours. There was so much more to see, but my brain didn't have time to register all of it, and we were also flying lower, going in for landing in a small glen.

Mona Lisa looked out over all of this, and when I turned to look at her I could see she was crying. But they were tears of joy and she had a big smile on her face. "Home. Heh, it feels so good to see home again." She said it to herself, but as she sat next to me, I still heard it and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you okay?" She looked at me, dried her eyes and laughed softly. And for once she didn't answer with any sarcasm or by rolling her eyes at me. She looked at me with genuine happiness.

"Yes, I'm fine. It's just..." She took a breath and some more tears formed in her eyes and fell down her cheeks. "I- I had forgotten how sunlight looked, and how wonderful and warm it felt." She sniffed, wiped her eye. "I had almost stopped hoping I would ever see this planet, my home, ever again." I couldn't help but smile at her, and even though I didn't consider her a friend of mine, since she had never really given me reason to consider her a friend, I still felt happy for her. 'Cause she clearly treasured this planet.

The ship landed on the soft grass and a small gangway precipitated for us as the doors opened. The Professor was the first one out, to check if the coast was clear, before he signaled with a small wave that we could come out. Mona practically ran down the gangway and looked around with undisguised glee on her face.

"Filione! Oh, how I've missed you!" She twirled around in a few circles with her arms wide open. She tilted her face up to the clear blue sky and the large trees and smiled at the big yellow sun. Starlee, Jhanna and I were not so far after her, Starlee hurrying down the ramp as well and looking around at everything with big eyes and a big smile, almost identical to Mona's. Which was was understandable- the curious look in her eyes I recognised as the same curiosity I had when the Professor and I were headed for Peblak. She had never seen anything but D'hoonib her entire life, and even then she hadn't really been let out of the house that much, if at all. And now, she was finally off her homeworld and was seeing something entirely new. And she took it all in with an open mind and with a sort of wide-eyed innocence.

"Wow... Look at all of this. The trees, the grass, the sky. It all seems so... alive. So real." She knelt down in the grass and leaned her face down, letting the grass stroke her face, all with a smile on her face. She then lied down in the grass and looked up at the sky and enjoyed the sunlight on her face. I couldn't help but laugh at her and for a moment I saw Mikey and how he reacted to New York when we were first allowed topside. Taking it all in amazement and with a childlike wonder in the eyes. Jhanna nodded, and while she didn't look quite as amazed as her sister, she also took it in with wide eyes and a smile.

"Yeah. Most of the nature on D'hoonib is dying, or is already dead. It's so colourless there. I have to admit, this is beautiful." I took in a deep breath through my nose. The air was so clean and even the atmosphere seemed so alive in some way. It all had a scent of life to it, and it felt so great to breathe fresh air again, after weeks of being on planets with dirty air or no oxygen. And the oxygen on the ship felt like breathing in an entirely secluded room without windows or doors. Warm and kinda hard to breathe after a while. I slowly removed the collar around my neck, put in my belt and took another deep breath, mostly just because I could.

"This air, it's so clear. So fresh. I love it." Mona looked away from the sky and the forest around us and turned back to us. She smiled. For the first time since I met her, it seemed. And now, seeing her in bright sunlight, the green forest around her, and breathing in the Filione air with the soft breeze flowing through her tied hair, she seemed much livelier now than she had on the ship.

"Well, like I said; no technology has been allowed here for thousands of years, except for our ships. And even they are run on fuel we make out of what grows on this planet and with our knowledge of plant life and chemistry. That leads to a clean and healthy atmosphere." Well, she did make good point. Though she did sound a bit like those Green Peace activists that sometimes were on TV, talking about the Arctic melting or how we shouldn't chop down the Amazon. They had good points, but could get a bit preachy.

Traximus limped down the ramp, due to his still slightly wounded leg, and looked around with a smile on his face. Well, what little I could see of it, with that helmet he had over his face. I turned to him as Starlee took off her own breathing collar and put it away in her pocket, and Jhanna removed her helmet and walked back up the ramp to leave it in the ship. I walked up to him and gently tapped him on the arm.

"Aren't you gonna take off your helmet? The air is clean- I don't think you'll need it." Traximus looked down at me, and at first he looked as though he thought I was crazy. Then he just chuckled and patted me on the shoulder, though with his huge hand, he ended patting my back too, and almost sent me to the ground because of his strength.

"Heh, I somehow doubt that that would be a good idea. I'll just keep this helmet on for now." I rubbed my shoulder and looked up at him with confusion, then saw Jhanna walk up beside me with a small smirk, raised eyebrow and her arms folded over her chest.

"Triceratons breathe a heavy combination of nitrogen and sulfur. Oxygen is to them like sulfur most likely would be for you if you tried to inhale it. That, or he would most likely suffocate after a while." I bit my lip and looked down at the grass. Stupid. I hadn't for second considered that Traximus might breathe something other than oxygen. The others didn't seem to have any problems with it, so I hadn't thought of Traximus to be any different. Now, in retrospect, it made sense why Traximus had taken my breathing apparatus after we had escaped from prison.

"Oh. Well, I feel stupid." Jhanna sniggered a little at my dry comment and shook her head at me. Then suddenly I started to feel a prickling on the back of my neck, and turned around to look behind me with my hand resting on the staff in the holster on my shell. The glen we had landed in was small, so there wasn't much to see around us. Spotting somebody would've been easy, if not for the huge trees, the bushes and the all-around densely grown vegetation. I couldn't see anything, but I could sense somebody's eyes on us.

Jhanna took a step back when she saw me suddenly get into a defensive stance and her arms dropped to her sides. She looked over at the others, and then back at me. "What is it?" I didn't answer her at first. My eyes were narrowed and my highly-trained senses were practically screaming at me that somebody was watching us.

"We're not alone." I whispered, loud enough for the others to hear, and looked around the glen, trying as hard as I could to spot anyone in the thick bushes or up in the leafy trees. I couldn't see anything, but Jhanna clearly got that something was up and her hand immediately gravitated towards the gun on her belt. Starlee, who had no weapons, took a few steps towards her sister, but she didn't exactly look scared. She seemed to be more confused and just did what she did to be on the safe side. Mona looked around the glen, looking a bit surprised that I sensed a threat, and didn't make any attempts to defend herself. Traximus grabbed the Professor by the arm and pulled him close, slightly behind him.

A few minutes passed and nothing happened. But I still felt that prickling on my neck and the instincts that Master Splinter had trained in me since I was a kid were on edge, yelling at me that something was up. But Jhanna was pulling her hand away from the gun and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I can't see any- oof!" She didn't get to finish that sentence as she was suddenly tackled to the ground and the air seemed to leave her lungs. Traximus yelled out, "Ambush!" and I quickly grabbed my staff and got into fighting stance, just in time for a relatively big, green Salamandarian to jump down from a massive tree and land in front of me with a spear in his hand. He looked somewhat like Mona, only taller and more muscular in build; his skin was more forest green than hers and his eyes were amber-coloured instead of turquoise. But that was all I had time to note before the lizard swung his spear at me with a yell. I quickly blocked it and tried to kick him back, but out of nowhere his tail shot out and wrapped itself around my ankle. He yanked at my leg, making me fall to the ground and almost lose grip on my staff.

I looked up and saw that Starlee was also being attacked by a lizard, and she had picked up a thick branch to defend herself with. But that didn't help her very much, and I'm pretty sure I heard the words 'Federation scum' being yelled at her amongst the chaotic cacophony of various fights breaking out. Traximus had his battle axe with him, but he didn't use it- he used his body to protect the Professor. Jhanna was tumbling around on the ground with the Salamandarian that had tackled her. And, from the looks of it, Jhanna seemed to be at a slight disadvantage as the Salamandarian on top of her was yanking at her hair and had his tail wrapped around her chest. But before I could try to get up at help her, the one who attacked me placed the tip of his spear at my throat.

"What are you doing here? What do you want?" I pulled my face away from the spear and raised my legs to kick him away from me. When I got back on my feet, I quickly snatched his spear away from him and threw it as far away as I could.

"We don't mean any harm! We're not your enemy!" He growled at me and raised his legs to kick me in the face.

"Oh, right! That's why you land with a Triceraton and Federation scum with you! We're not that stupid!" I dropped my own staff and went down on my knee. The guy in front of me picked the staff and raised it to hit me-

"STOP! Please, Samu, stop! They're not the enemy!" The Salamandarian, apparently named Samu, turned to look at Mona. His eyes widened and he eyed here from head to toe and then stared into her eyes. He gasped softly, dropped my staff and reached up to touch Mona's face.

"Mona Lisa? I-is that you?" She nodded and small tears formed in her eyes. The other Salamandarians around us looked up from their fights and seemed to forget about us. Samu also had tears forming in his eyes and he pulled Mona into his arms, hugging her tightly to his chest and burying his fingers in her hair. She dug her face into his torso and I could hear that she was trying to fight back tears. I picked up my staff and put it back in the holster on my shell, my eyes never leaving the scene in front of me. The other Salamandarians flocked around the two as though to verify that she was who they thought she was.

After a few minutes Samu and Mona pulled away from each other and dried their tears. Samu kept his hands on her shoulders and smiled at her and she easily returned the gesture. But then another Salamandarian placed her hand on Mona's back.

"B-but how? How is it possible?" Mona turned to look at the rest of the lizard people and smiled at all of them before gesturing to us.

"These guys saved me." She walked up to me and Jhanna. "Donatello and Jhanna here arrived in the Triceraton prison few weeks ago and they, along with the Professor," she pointed to the Fugitoid, "managed to break us out of there. They're not our enemies, I promise." Samu and the female lizard looked at each other with expressions that told us all that they were not convinced. The unnamed female looked at Starlee and Traximus.

"Then why did you bring those two here? Triceratons cannot be trusted, Mona. You know this. And she," she pointed to Starlee, who took a few steps closer to Jhanna and hid herself behind her sister, "is part of the Federation! She wears their symbol on her clothing- and it's on their uniforms! How can you bring such scum here?" Jhanna immediately placed her arm around Starlee and glared at the lizardess in front of her.

"Hey! Don't you dare talk about her that way! Starlee wouldn't harm a fly! And she's not scum!" Mona placed her arm on Jhanna's and shushed her, then turned back to her people.

"Starlee was the one who flew the ship to the Triceraton prison and got us out of there when we fled. She's a very kind and sweet girl." She turned to Traximus. "And Traximus has been imprisoned longer than I have. He committed treason against his own people. He won't harm any of us." The woman didn't seem convinced and looked at Traximus suspiciously.

"That might be what he wants you to believe, Mona. Triceratons are ruthless and vicious- they care nothing for anyone but themselves! And Federation loyalists are no better!" Starlee looked down at the ground with confusion and a little hurt in her eyes. Traximus didn't say anything, but I had clench my hands and bite my lip so I wouldn't say or do anything stupid. Mona just rolled her eyes at the woman.

"Oh, knock it off, Mew." Samu walked up to me, inspecting me carefully.

"And what kind of reptile is he? I've never seen anything like him before." Before Mona could answer, I quickly took a step back from his probing eyes and tried to smile, despite how terribly our first few minutes on Filione had gone so far.

"I am a turtle. I come from a small planet far from here. My, uh, species is kinda endangered, so to speak." The Salamandarians looked at each other and then up at us, and then back to Mona Lisa.

"We're going to have to take them to see the Chief. Just to be safe. Only he can decide what should be done next." Mona nodded and bowed her head in respect.

"Of course. Let's go." Samu gestured at us to follow them and they started to walk out of the glen, picking up their weapons as they went. Mona started to walk after them, but Jhanna grabbed her arm and hissed at her.

"I thought you said they were peaceful! You said that Salamandarians were not a warrior people!" Mona grimaced nervously at us.

"They are! At least," she looked at her old friends and the weapons in their hands, "they weren't." She then walked after the others and we looked at each other, sharing the same cautious and nervous glances before we started to follow her. Jhanna and I glanced at each other and I could tell that she was thinking the same thing that I was.

So far our visit to Filione was a complete disaster.

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 **A/N: Boy, looks like we are getting off to a bad start. Hopefully it'll get better by next chapter! And I just wanna say now that Samu nor any one of the Salamandarians we meet in the next following chapters will play a huge or significant role after we leave Filione. I have no intention of cramming even more characters into this story.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	36. Chapter 35, Filione Welcomes You?

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Man, I am really getting bad at updating these days, aren't I? I have been so busy, having a hard time getting through writer's block, and I've had other things on my mind, as I've spent an entire month of working this summer so I've been very tired when I got home again. And then school started just a few days later, and I have a hunch that I will not have a lot of time to update, as this will be my final year of high school and I will probably have a lot of school work to do.**

 **So, I'm just gonna say this. I will update when I find time to write and when I don't have writer's block. I have no intention of abandoning this story when I have gotten this far with it, so rest assured on that part. And I hope get time to write, but I will make no promises on how often that might be.**

 **But anyway, I have new chapter for you! I hope you'll enjoy it and please review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 35, Filione Welcomes You?

Okay, so it wasn't exactly a secret that I wasn't particularly good with people. Ever since before my father held me down, slashed me with his sword and practically disowned me when I was a kid, I've had a hard time talking to people. Granted it wasn't as bad is it was nowadays, but still. My social skills weren't the best, but I was still competent enough to talk to the ones I had to when I needed to get something I wanted, like food or weapons or things like that. But that was it. But, somehow, I still managed to get into trouble with people; whenever I tried to get food or stuff from others, I usually ended up having to steal everything I had anyway. That or try to manipulate them. But this time, it had to be some kind of record as far as getting into trouble with other aliens went. We had been attacked and threatened after only being on the planet for a few minutes. If that's not a record, I don't know what is.

The Salamandarians led us through the woods, and I have to admit, it was a very beautiful sight. A lot of the trees were huge, at the very least four hundred feet tall and one hundred feet wide, and the crowns almost covered the entire sky, making only a little of the sun shine through between the leaves; the faint sound of running water was consistent as we treaded through the woods. A lot of big bushes or colourful flowers were so big that we had to either crawl under them or push them out of our way. I had, at one point, tried to draw my sword and cut off the huge leaves and branches, but Mona had stopped me before I could do anything.

"You can't kill the plants! At least, not that way. It's not how we do it." Donnie and Starlee had looked at me as if I was crazy, and said I had to show the people and their ways of living their due respect. I had rolled my eyes and put my sword away again, but I wasn't that keen on showing these guys any respect. They had tried to kill us, even though we hadn't done anything. Why should we show them respect? I lived by the rule that you shouldn't show respect to anyone unless they give you good reason to. And so far in my life very few aliens, if any, had.

A lot of different creatures looked at us as we walked and either just stood and stared at us or ran back into the woods in fear. Some were bigger than Traximus, and some were so small they didn't reach up to my shins. All of them were unique and like nothing I had ever seen before. Dragons, worms with eight legs, both small and large eyes and huge teeth, and birds the size of a full-grown Triceraton. I looked over at Starlee, who, despite looking amazed at everything she saw, had a troubled look in her eyes. Something was bothering her, and I had a feeling I knew what.

Starlee had always been told lies about what the Federation was, and believed they were good and fought to help others. So being called scum by these guys probably left her confused and a little hurt. But she had asked for it. I had tried to warn her for years about our dad and his plans and ideas, and she had refused to listen to me. Served her right to have the truth come up and bite her in the butt. So I chose to ignore her and walked up to Donnie, who was studying the towering trees with amazed eyes, and leaned in closer to him so he could hear me whisper.

"What do you think they're going to do with us? Think they wanna fight?" He looked over at me, then at Mona, who was walking close behind her friends, and then at Samu, who seemed to be some kind of leader, before he looked back at me again.

"I don't know for certain… but I don't think so. These guys seem to have had problems with Triceratons and Federation before, so it only makes sense for them to be on their guard when some of them come to their planet. I just hope this Chief is more open-minded than these guys are." I bit my lip and nodded, but I couldn't help but keep my guard up anyway. These guys alone seemed capable enough to take us down, so what was an entire village able to do?

In front of us, Mona Lisa was looking over her friends and seemed really nervous and confused. Their little surprise attack on us had apparently surprised her just as much as it surprised us, and I could practically see the thoughts running through her head, see her trying to think up the right question to ask them. After a while, she caught up with Samu and tried to look him in the eyes, despite the fact that he just looked straight ahead and didn't spare her a second glance.

"Samu, I don't understand. What happened back there? Why did you attack us? And why are you using weapons? Salamandarians are peaceful - we've always been! You shouldn't even know how to fight, let alone how to use a weapon!" Samu just looked down at her for a second before looking back up again.

"Times change, Mona. And we change with them. You've been gone for a long time. Don't expect everything to be like it used to." He didn't say much more than that, but that Salamandarian female- Mew, I think- tried to look nicer and smiled at her.

"Chief Patowan will explain everything to you. Now, please, Mona, just be patient." Mona sighed dejectedly, and for a fraction of a second I almost felt a little bit sorry for her. Almost. But considering how rude and overly defensive she had been, right from the start, she didn't entirely deserve it. At least not yet. But the small exchange of words left a rather awkward silence behind it, and for a while no one said anything. Thankfully, that 'a while' didn't last very long.

I heard Starlee let out a soft 'wow...' and turned to look at her. She was staring up at the trees while turning in a small circle to take in as much as she could. While the troubled look in her eyes was still there, I could see a lot of wonder and amazement in them too. Her mouth was slightly open and a soft smile formed on her face.

"This forest is amazing. I mean, look at these trees! They're _huge_!" Donnie chuckled and looked upwards as well.

"Heh, yeah. Redwood forest, get out of town!" I shot him side-eyed glance before shrugging and shaking my head at him. Must be some kind of forest back on his planet or something, but that was the only thing I got out of it.

"Yeah, it is pretty amazing." I turned to look at Traximus and the Professor, who had been staying behind the rest of us. "How are you guys holding up?" Traximus had a grip on the Professor's arm so he wouldn't get off the path. The Professor was also looking around the woods, amazed by the nature.

"We're fine, Jhanna. But all this vegetation is starting to get on my nerves." Yeah, that was understandable. Traximus was pretty tall and this led to a lot of heavy leaves and 'low branches' hitting him in the face. So, for him, not being able to cut through these plants to make way for himself was probably really annoying. The Professor placed his hand on Traximus' arm.

"You know we cannot disrespect these creatures' ways of living. We are already in enough deep water as it is." Traximus just grunted slightly, and I couldn't help but smirk at him. It wasn't that often I saw Traximus being frustrated or angry, so it was always amusing when he was. But we quickly got other things to think of as we were led through yet _another_ thicket of waxy leaves and thorny branches.

But after we passed through this one, the forest opened up a lot more. Suddenly the tall trees didn't grow as thickly, and there were fewer bushes. The sound of running water was now louder, and that made sense as there was a huge waterfall running down from a tall mountain pretty close to us. And water also ran through a wide, calm river, with a lot of different fish-like creatures swimming around in the clear water. Other giant mountains were seen in the distance, and some of the bigger ones seemed to have snow at the top of them. Colourful flowers were covering the ground and the bushes and trees and because there were fewer trees here, the sun finally shone through and warmed us up after such a long time in the shadows. It was a breathtaking sight, and it felt like my feet were stuck to the ground- I could only stare at the beauty before me.

"This is so beautiful... I might cry." I tried to say it so only I would hear the last part, but Donnie clearly did, 'cause he stood very close to me. But he just smiled lightly, also taking in all of the beauty. He leaned in closer to me, whispering in my ear.

"Go ahead. I won't judge." Starlee had tears forming in her eyes, and Mona saw that. She walked over to her and placed her hand on her shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Starlee looked up, but her entire being seemed to be in a different world. A world where nothing like this had ever existed, and now that she was seeing it, it was a bit hard to take in all at once.

"I... I never knew there could be such beauty in the world. All my life has been so... colourless. This, this is all so..." She trailed off, trying to find the perfect word, but Donnie beat her to it.

"Alive. That's what it is. This is all so alive." Starlee nodded and swiped her arm over her eyes. The Professor walked to the other Salamandarians, who stood beside us and waited for us to start walking again, and they were clearly on edge as he approached them.

"I must say, dear Salamandarians. You have made quite a marvellous planet for yourself. This is all so wonderful and beautiful." Samu, Mew and the others looked at each other in confusion. They clearly hadn't expected a direct compliment from him, and I could see they didn't know how to handle it. It was a look I recognised from myself when Donnie helped me with Gruel back at the prison. But Mew recovered quickly and smiled at the robot.

"Well, thank you, Professor Honeycutt. But now we have to get going. We don't want to be out here when it gets dark. Trust me on that." And so we started to walk down the river and deeper into this clearing.

And now that we were getting closer to their village, I started to see more Salamandarians as we walked. Some were seemingly picking flowers, leaves or some kind of fruits or vegetables from the trees and bushes and putting them in handwoven baskets by their feet. Some were kneeling by the riverbanks and either cleaning or sharpened their weapons in the water or picked alages and seaweed or stood in the river, catching small fishes on long spears and putting them in the same kind of baskets by their sides. When I looked up I saw other lizard-people up in the trees, hundreds of feet above the ground and working on what looked like both big and small tree huts, either by covering up holes in the roof and halls with mud, adding straw to cover the branches and wood that made up the roof for protection from the weather, or other tasks that I couldn't make out. But every one of them, once they saw us, stopped doing what they were doing and stared at us. Or, to be more accurate, stared at me, Starlee and Traximus. Especially Traximus. But didn't seem to care about or be all that surprised by their looks. And when we had walked by them, they stopped staring and followed us.

After about a ten minute walk, we entered a glen where there were a lot more Salamandarians walking around, so I assumed that this was their village. Kids were running around and playing with each other while adults and older teens, that looked to be around Samu and the other Salamandarins' ages, were either doing some kind of work or taking care of the smaller children. There were plenty of huts, both up in the trees and down on the ground. From the trees, big and sturdy rope ladders hung from the thickest branches, and some kind of planks were glued or stuck on the trunks so that you could climb up and down two ways. There were also a few tents here and there, but not that many. There was a small pillar of smoke from a fire that filled the air too. And when I looked I saw some female lizards cooking something over a small fire.

But that was all I managed to see before a loud yell was heard throughout the small village, and everyone turned to us. "Look, Samu and the others have captured a Triceraton!" And with that, almost every Salamandarian came running up to us, most of them with weapons in their hands. And there was a lot of shouting.

"Triceraton! There's a Triceraton in our village!"

"Why is _he_ here?"

"What more do _they_ want?"

"Why did you bring _them_ here?"

"Are they friendly?"

"What do you want?"

"Triceraton filth!"

"Look at that girl's uniform!"

"Federation scum!"

It was a lot to take in all at once, and Donnie, Traximus and I grabbed our weapons, just to be safe in case they decided to attack. I felt Starlee grab onto my arm and hide behind me. But Mona Lisa was quick to get up in front of us, arms stretched out to cover for us and the same frantic look she had before when her friends attacked now on her face again.

"Stop! Please, listen to me! These aliens are not our enemies." All the other Salamandarians froze when they saw her, and most of them didn't seem to know who she was. One of the older ones stepped forward with a bow in his hand, a quiver of arrows on his back."Child, I do not recognise you. Who are you? Do you come from the mountain village?" 'Oh, boy', I thought to myself. Mona Lisa could raise her voice just fine, but she wasn't that good at actually following through on her threats or demands. But for once Mona didn't back down or show any trace of fear or insecurity and stood her ground.

"No, I lived in this village when I was a child." A collective murmur was heard through the crowd, and Mona Lisa lowered her arms to appear more casual. "My name is Mona Lisa. I was captured by Triceratons along with a lot of other children about ten years ago." A collective gasp went through the crowd, but I saw that there were still some that looked at her with distrust and didn't seem to listen to Mona Lisa. But either she didn't hear or see that, or chose to ignore it, 'cause she just kept going.

"I am the only one of those children that survived the Triceraton prison, and I wouldn't have been able to make it out alive if it wasn't for these brave and strong warriors. And all of us, except for the young Miss here," she gestured at Starlee for a second, "ended up in the same prison. But she flew the ship that got us out of there when we escaped. They managed to break us all out of that hellhole. So trust me when I say, these creatures are not our enemies." The other Salamandarians looked at each other as if they were asking themselves what the right thing to do was, and another, younger and cockier lizard stepped up and his eyes showed a lot of distrust and even a little hate.

"Then why did you bring _that thing_ along with you?" He pointed his spear at Traximus, who thankfully showed no reaction to being called 'that thing', and just stood there, stoic and strong. "If you had been trapped in Triceraton prison, then you of all Salamandarians should know that they are nothing but monsters! Or have you forgotten how they attacked and tried to kill us? Or how they forced us to give up our children?" Mona's look of strength and whatever bravery she had mustered seemed to grow weaker, but she just licked her lips and kept trying to look in control.

"Uh, n-no, I haven't forgotten. But Traximus isn't like other Triceratons. He was in that prison, too. He committed treason against Zanramon! He's a good guy, I promise. He looked after me when I was just a child." Another lizard, this one a woman carrying her child protectively, stepped forward and her grip on the baby tightened.

"Even if you're right, how do we know we can trust those other aliens?" She looked over at the rest of us. "Those two are Federation soldiers, that robot is General Blanque's head scientist, and he-" She cut herself off when her eyes fell on Donnie, and all the others also seemed to have their eyes on him. From the looks of it, Donnie seemed ready to pop into the shell on his back and disappear. If that was even possible. The younger Salamandarian walked up to him and took a long, good look at him, poking him lightly with the tip of his spear.

"Hm, and what are you supposed to be? An experiment gone wrong?" Donnie's eyes narrowed, but his face showed a mix of offense, slight hurt at the insult and a bit of anger. Then his face lightened up and, with a raised eyebrow and a cocky smirk, he placed his finger on the tip of the spear and gently pushed it away from his chest.

"Hey, take it easy with the pointy things. You could poke someone's eye out with that thing." He said it very casually, but something in his voice told me he knew this guy couldn't take him down and wasn't as good a fighter as he may appear to be. He then sobered up and his teasing smirk vanished almost as quickly as it came. "And I can tell you right now, my friends and I mean you no harm. We just-" he was suddenly cut off as a new voice was heard from one of the huts.

"What is all this commotion?" Every head turned to the newcomer, a small old Salamandarian with a white beard, a few minor wrinkles in his face, leaning slightly on a walking stick. But his eyes were sharp and spirited, and something about them told me that this man was younger in spirit than in age. Every Salamandarian turned to look at him and bowed their heads in respect. Samu, who had just been standing there, quiet, the entire time, stepped forward and bowed before the old lizard.

"Chief Patowan, my friends and I saw a ship land on our planet a few minutes ago, and-" he was then shoved aside as Mona ran up to the elderly lizard and threw her arms around his neck, almost tackling him to the ground.

"Grandfather!" The Chief just stared off into space for a few seconds, but then took a good look at girl in front of him before returning her hug. And I could swear I saw a few tears fall down his cheeks.

"Mona Lisa? Is it really you? Oh, thank Aeons you are alright! I have been so worried." Mona laughed lightly, and we could hear in her voice that she was crying too. Starlee smiled at the scene and a smile seemed to tug at Donnie's lips, too, but I pressed my lips together to try and avoid a smile. Sure, it was touching, but this girl had been getting on my nerves for quite some time now, and it was a little late to try and turn that around by now.

When the two pulled away from each other, the Chief finally noticed us and approached us. The Salamandarians stepped aside and formed a path for him to walk on. He stopped in front of us and eyed each and every one of us with serious yet unreadable eyes.

"Which one of you is considered in charge?" When no one said anything, I placed my hands on Donnie's shell and shoved him forward, making him stumble but take a few steps forward. He glared at me over his shoulder for a second before looking back at the Chief. Or maybe I should say look back down at the Chief, since he had to be at least two heads shorter than him and barely reached his shoulders, which made it look a little silly. But Patowan just chuckled and placed his hand on Donnie's shoulder.

"Would you kneel down? You are going to make me sprain my neck, my boy." Donnie, who had seemed kinda paralysed up until that point, seemed to snap out his trance and his eyes wandered a bit before he looked back at the man in front of him.

"Uh, well, uh, y-yeah, sure." He went down on his knees, and Patowan placed his hands behind his back and smiled lightly at him.

"You have brought my granddaughter home again. You have my thanks." Donnie smiled bashfully and rubbed the back of his neck with a blush forming on his cheeks.

"Eh, it was nothing, really. I just wanted to help a fellow reptile out." Patowan smiled at him and then looked up at the rest of us, and even when his eyes fell on Traximus, his smile remained. It just got a little more forced. Then he looked back down at Donnie.

"And who are you all, children? You seem a little young to have been imprisoned and be traveling around space." Hmph, like he's one to talk. A whole lot of this planet's children had been taken to prison a long time ago. But Donnie didn't say anything like that- he just stood up and smiled at the Chief, but he did bend his knees a little to keep eye contact with Patowan.

"Well, my name is Donatello Hamato. I come from a planet called Earth, far away from here. And I am a turtle," he glared at the guy who had pointed a spear at him, "not an experiment." Then he turned around and gestured to me and Starlee.

"And this is Jhanna and Starlee-" he stopped and looked at us both, a little unsure. But Starlee took a step from behind my back and smiled at Patowan.

"Hambrath, sir. Jhanna and Starlee Hambrath." He raised his eyebrows at us and looked a bit surprised. He walked up to me and Starlee and took a good long look at us both.

"Ah, so you are General Blanque's daughters." He said it with a smile, but I could see he was a bit cautious and looked ready to beat us both up with his staff should he have to. Starlee nodded, her smile gone from her face, but I just rolled my eyes, scoffed at him and folded my arms over my chest.

"Huh! He stopped being my father eight years ago." Patowan raised his eyebrows at me and eyed me curiously.

"Oh?" But he didn't ask me about it, and turned to Honeycutt and Traximus. "And who are you two?" Professor Honeycutt stepped forward and put his hand on his chest with his usual robot smile.

"My name is Professor Zayton Honeycutt. I used to be working for General Blanque, before he started to hunting me for my inventions. Donatello and Jhanna tried to help me escape D'hoonib, when we were captured by the Triceratons. We found Traximus," he gestured to Traximus, "and Mona Lisa there and they escaped with us. And Mona Lisa asked us to drop her off here before we went off on our own mission." Patowan's eyes lit up with interest and turned to look at Donnie again.

"And what is your mission, if I may ask?" Donnie took a deep breath and licked his lips. He looked down at his feet for a second and looked up again.

"To find and destroy the pieces of the Black Hole Generator." Loud gasps of fear and exclamations of horror were heard throughout the whole village. Mothers covered their children's ears, the lizards with weapons dropped them in shock and everyone was staring at us. Even Patowan looked horrified at what Donnie had said. Donnie had jerked back at the loud reaction, and Traximus placed his hand on his shoulder and pulled him back a few steps. One of the older Salamandarians stepped forward and her eyes were filled with horror.

"That's impossible! The Heart of Darkness is indestructible! That's why the pieces were hidden in the most dangerous and well-guarded places in the galaxy! So no one would ever find them and use them again!" I let my angry frown fade into a concerned and slightly interested one. Most dangerous places in the galaxy? Wow, suddenly things became more interesting. Starlee took a step forward and pulled out her infamous puppy eyes.

"No, we know. But we have to try! Or else an entire planet with innocent people will be destroyed!" Chief Patowan stroked his beard, and for second I could swear I saw Donnie's eyes water before he wiped his arm over them. After a few seconds Patowan looked up and placed his hand on Donnie's arm.

"Hm, this is certainly interesting news. I would like to hear more about this. Would you like to stay for dinner?" Donnie's eyes widened and he looked over at us. Starlee, the Professor and Traximus nodded, but I didn't. I just shrugged and tightened my folded arms. I couldn't see why we should stay here. These guys didn't seem all that friendly or happy to see us, so why shouldn't we just leave and do what we had to do? But Donnie just turned back to the Chief.

"Dinner sounds great. Thank you, Chief Patowan." He bowed in respect before the old lizard, who bowed in return before turning to Mona Lisa and linking his elbow with hers.

"Now, Mona Lisa, I wish to hear everything you have been through. Mew, Samu! Please show our guests where they can stay for the night." Samu sighed dramatically and started to walk into the village, and Mew gestured at us to follow her. Everyone in the village followed us with their eyes, and I jogged up to Donnie and grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Uh, why are we staying here? I thought we were just gonna drop off Miss Bad Attitude here and then get outta here. Why stay with these guys?" Donnie looked over at me and fingered absentmindedly on the strap over his chest.

"It seems Chief Patowan knows something about the Black Hole Generator that we don't. If he has info or can help us in any way, it could really make things easier for us. Besides, it's just one night." I rolled my eyes at him but couldn't think of anything to say against his plan. But I still couldn't help but feel that something bad was going to happen if we stayed here for the night. Really, really bad.

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 **A/N: And finally, it's done! Seriously, I am getting really bad at updating, even when I know what I wanna write. I'm gonna blame it on summer work and school starting too soon after my last days of work. I've had so much to do, and now school's started and I've already gotten a bit of homework, so...**

 **Uh, anyway, first time in a while we see something from someone else's point of view. I hope to write some more of that in the future! And I also have some good ideas to give you for Zerij, the history of the Salamandarians and The Black Hole Generator in the next chapter.**

 **But for now, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	37. Chapter 36, Tea with Chief Patowan

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Yay, I got a chapter done before this month was over! I was planning on having this chapter and next chapter be one chapter, but found it was getting too crowded with all the details and plot points I wanted to showcase. Especially with the one in this chapter, combined with everything else I wanted to squeeze in, something just started to look insignificant. As if they weren't as important as I wanted them to be. So I split the two up and added more detail to the things I wanted to showcase in this chapter.**

 **Anyway, I hope you'll like this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 36, Tea with Chief Patowan

Samu and Mew took us to one of the huge trees and pointed up to the one of huts, about two hundred feet above the ground, and told us that we could stay up there for the night. Looking up the impressive tree, I couldn't help but shudder. Now, don't get me wrong- I have no problem with heights in any way. My brothers and I used to play and run on pipelines above flushing water in the sewers, and Splinter used them a lot of times to train our balance when we were kids. I had no real problem with heights, which helped the fact that we always ran and jumped across tall buildings back home. But that was nothing compared to these trees. The tallest building I could remember us entering was TCRI, and that was only about a hundred feet above the ground, at the very most. This was way more than that. And don't tell me you wouldn't feel the same if you realized you had to climb a tree that was four hundred feet tall with only a rope ladder or planks glued to the trunk of the tree. And let me just remind you that two hundred feet was only where the lowest branches were. The trees themselves were way taller than that.

Jhanna nudged my arm and looked at me with that stupid smug smirk she liked to use a lot. "What's the matter, tough guy? Scared of heights?" I glared at her and folded my arms over my plastron.

"Oh, come on! Don't tell you're not the slightest bit apprehensive about climbing that!" I gestured at the tree and the ladder, but Jhanna just rolled her eyes at me and her smirk got a little bigger.

"I'm not scared of anything. I practically grew up with thieves, criminals and big, strong aliens teaching me the ways of life. Nothing scares me anymore." She stepped forward and placed her foot on the ladder, ready to climb up. But she hesitated for a second, and I could see her gulp and eye the trunk, the tree and the long way up to the branch uneasily. Then she took a deep breath and started to climb. I looked at the others, who had their eyes glued to her as she climbed higher and higher, as quick and flexible as a monkey. I didn't want to be seen as worse than Jhanna, so I walked up to the ladder to follow.

While I managed to start climbing just fine, I couldn't shake the fear and worry twisting itself around in my stomach. And as I got higher and higher, it only got worse and worse, to a point where I wanted to throw up.

' _If I fall from here, I'll get splattered all over the forest._ ' I thought to myself, but then another voice answered, ' _Well, don't fall down, then! It's not harder than that._ ' Sure, it sounds easy when you're thinking it in your head, but not when you're climbing a ladder that's only suspended over the ground by some rope, no matter how strong and thick it is. Especially since that ladder refuses to be still while you're climbing. If you've ever climbed a rope ladder, you know what I mean. The swinging and twisting of the whole thing literally made me sick.

"Don't look down. Don't look down. Don't look down." I repeated to myself over and over so that I wouldn't catch myself looking down and become paralyzed and be unable to either continue upwards or even return to the ground.

'Come on, Donnie, you've been through worse than this! Turtle up, already!' A voice in my head that reminded me of Raph yelled at me, but that didn't help at all. Once I got up to the branch, I scrambled up onto the foundation of the hut and crawled away from the edge. Jhanna stood with her back against the wall of the small house and smirked at me, but I could see that she was also a little shaken by the whole experience.

"Heh, see? That wasn't so hard, now, was it?" I rolled my eyes at her, got to my feet and walked over to the fence that surrounded the foundation the hut was built on, looking out over the forest and the ground, oh so far below. I had to admit, now that we were up here, even though it really shouldn't have been, the fear I had when I climbed up was slowly abating until it was finally gone. Well, okay, maybe not _gone_. I still felt a little uneasy looking down at the ground, but the view was beautiful and calm enough for me to start forgetting about it.

Starlee climbed up next, with the Professor only seconds after her, and unlike me and Jhanna, she seemed completely unfazed by the height and her eyes gleamed with excitement. She ran up to fence beside me and looked out over the trees, the waterfall, the mountains in the background and the clear blue sky.

"Wow, look at all of this! Isn't it amazing?" I wanted to smile, seeing how she was so happy and that happiness was contagious, but it's kinda hard to smile when you're winded from climbing two hundred feet up a tree and also slightly nauseous from the sheer giddiness that came with the whole thing. My stomach still had to settle from the worry and fear that had nearly made me ready to puke. So I just tried to nod at her while trying to to sound pleasant, even if I felt like I was the height equivalent of seasick.

"Yeah, great..." I muttered and tried to take deep breaths and leaned over the fence, just in case, forcing myself to think pleasant and happy thoughts. Honestly, I was sure my discomfort was blatantly obvious, as I wasn't exactly the best actor, but Starlee didn't seem to notice and ran inside the hut to take a look. The Professor, on the other hand, was more perceptive and placed his hand on my shell while I tried to breathe. 'Find your happy place, find your happy place', I repeated in my head over and over.

"Are you feeling alright, Donatello?" I gulped and swallowed down some bile that had risen up in the back of my throat, tried- and failed- to smile reassuringly, and nodded. The fear and worry that had practically turned my stomach inside out was practically gone now, and after standing and studying the height for a few minutes, I had started get used to the view and suddenly we didn't seem so high up anymore.

"Yeah, I-I'm okay. I just got a little giddy. I'm not used to being this high up in the air." Traximus had been too big and heavy to climb up the rope ladder and had climbed up the ladder that was glued to the trunk, and now he was scaling the foundation to the hut rather clumsily; for a second I was worried that he would be too heavy for the planks to support him. But he did just fine, though they did creak ominously, and it was a wonder he didn't fall through and down to the ground again. He huffed and removed the axe from the strap on his back, resting it against the wall of the small house. He huffed in exertion.

"Ugh, I'm getting too old for this." He muttered to himself and stretched out his back and shoulders. He then came over to us and placed his hand on my shell. "Don't let those Salamandarians get to you. You have to understand that this people has been been afraid and, well, pushed around by Triceratons for quite some time. Seeing both Federation affliliates and a Triceraton, two of the most power-hungry alien races in the galaxy, could definitely... well, you can't blame them for being cautious." I sighed and scrubbed my hand over my face.

"I know, and I don't blame them. If some strange aliens landed on Earth, people would likely react the same way. It's just that..." I trailed off and looked up at Traximus. "It's not fair how they just immediately see you as a monster when you've done and said nothing wrong. They're not even giving you a chance." I rested my chin in my hand and propped my elbow against the railing of the fence, the other arm resting along with railing. Traximus sighed and fingered his claws.

"Mm, yes. That comes with the burden of being a Triceraton. With so many Triceratons throughout thousands of years, aliens are more than likely going to see every Triceraton as the same evil and nasty monsters they have painted themselves to be." I sighed and turned around, leaning my shell against the fence, and eyed the thick leafy canopy above us, the slowly setting sun giving the leaves a bright green and yellow hue. I sighed dejectedly and rested my elbows on the railing.

"Yeah, I guess." I glanced at Jhanna, who seemed a bit resentful at the mentioning of the Salamandarians and glared down at the ground as though it had done her some personal wrong.

"Maybe. But that doesn't give them an excuse to act like jerks!" She muttered loudly enough for us to hear and marched into the hut with a huff. We all looked after her, but she came out after only a minute. She had just been depositing her weapons inside.

I looked up at the sky. Judging by the position of the sun, I guessed that it would get dark in a few hours. But it was still a pretty bright afternoon. Or an abnormally bright evening, since the sun was setting in the distance and it had gotten remarkably chillier in the air. I sat down on the porch and looked up at the others.

"So, uh, should we talk about our next move?" They nodded, and we all sat down in a small circle. The Professor plucked a gigantic leaf from a nearby branch and Starlee took a small scalpel-esque knife from her pocket. Jhanna had given it to her as a just-in-case weapon before we landed, and she now used it as a pen.

"Okay... I think that it would be best to leave as soon as possible." She carved her idea into the leaf with her knife. "By stopping here for longer than we expected, we might have already given the Triceratons a head start to the first piece of the Black Hole Generator. We should leave as soon as we wake up and set course for Zerij immediately. We can eat breakfast on the ship once we've left." I nodded as I thought it over. It was a very good idea, but that wasn't what was on my mind right now.

"That does sound good, but I think we should focus on tonight." They all looked at me confusedly, so I tried to explain. "Well, this Patowan seems to know things about the Black Hole Generator. The more information we can get out of him, the better." Jhanna was sitting cross-legged, rested her elbow on one of her knees and her lightly clenched fist against her cheek, looking rather bored.

"But, Donnie, they don't exactly like us. They were ready to kick us out the minute they saw us." Traximus growled very softly and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Jhanna, they may not have been that friendly, but that is to be expected. We landed on their planet with weapons and team members from two dominant alien species. Of course they are going to be suspicious. You can't really blame them for being cautious." The Professor nodded.

"Yes, and whatever information they have might be helpful for when we land on Zerij, or for the future in general." I nodded, took the knife from Starlee took down our conclusions.

"Then it's settled. We'll take whatever info they can give, then we leave."

After that was decided, no one really knew what we were supposed to do. A few hours passed, and we just basically sat around for a while. Jhanna was obviously bored and was scraping dirt from under her nails or brushing through her hair with her fingers. Starlee was sitting cross-legged against the fence, playing around on her tablet, and Traximus was sharpening his axe, leaning back against the wall of the hut with his head ducked to avoid hitting it against the roof. The Professor and I were looking through the information that the Professor had downloaded into his memory banks and discussing the little we had found out about Zerij.

"Huh, that's weird. You're _sure_ there're no people on the planet? What about any other sort of life forms?" The Professor shook his head.

"I'm as sure as I can be with the limited data we have. The only signs of life encountered there have been some luminescent fish down in the underwater cave systems and a rare few other animals scattered throughout the sparse ecosystems- nothing else." I hummed and rubbed my chin in thought. It all seemed too easy.

"But that doesn't make any sense. If the Intergalactic Alliance hid them in the most well-guarded and dangerous places in the galaxy, why would they hide one of the pieces on a deserted planet with little to no life on it? It doesn't add up." Starlee looked up from her tablet and brushed her hair out of her eyes.

"Maybe the people who lived there moved away? I mean, the planet is basically nothing but rock and caves. Maybe they didn't have any food or resources left." I bit my lip. I guess that made sense, but still, I couldn't help but feel that there was something more to it than that.

"Maybe. But these guys know something we don't, and I'm gonna find out what." I got up and went to the edge of the porch, starting my careful descent down the unnerving ladder. Jhanna got to her feet.

"I'll come with you." I shook my head and smiled up at her.

"Nah, you don't have to. I think it'll be a while before it's dinner, anyway. No need to run up and down his ladder, right?" I didn't wait for an answer and kept climbing down. It was much easier going down than up. I only looked down once and only got a tiny bit dizzy. Thankfully I reached the ground fairly quickly. The minute I touched the ground, I ran back into the village.

In the middle of the glen, a crowd of Salamandarians was setting up what looked like a large bonfire. Big twigs, branches and even smaller logs were thrown into a big pile, and around it were a bunch of interconnected woven blankets, a safe distance away from the fire. I felt a lot of eyes on me, and while I tried not to care, I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable under all of their stares. I kept an eye out for Chief Patowan and Mona Lisa as I passed the different tents and Salamandarian villagers. In one of the tents I saw some of them chopping fruit and vegetables, some pouring different kinds of spices and the chopped food into a water-filled medieval metal pot. Y'know, those that they used to hang over a fire in the old days. Looked like dinner wasn't too far away after all.

Suddenly I caught sight of a familiar Salamandarian girl with a brown ponytail walking out of one of the tents with an older man. I grinned jogged up to them. "Chief Patowan!" He turned to look over his shoulder, grinning when he saw me.

"Ah, Donatello. Nice to see you out and about. And you're in good time. Dinner will be ready in less than an hour." I smiled and bowed in respect before him, eyeing Mona Lisa for just a second. She wasn't my reason to walk through the village.

"Chief Patowan, I was looking for you. I have some questions, I thought maybe you would have the answers. Do you have time?" He nodded and bowed back when I did. He then took me by the arm.

"Of course. Please, come with me." He led me into his tent and I was immediately hit by a scent that was all too familiar; incense. The scent was much earthier and- for lack of a better word- natural than the ones Master Splinter had in his room. Still, it was enough to throw me off and make me long for my father even more. But I wasn't given much time to think about that before Patowan lightly pushed me down onto the carpets on the floor. While he was pouring tea into two small cups, I took a good look around the tent. In front of me was a low table, a simple wooden board supported by medium-sized rocks. The ground was covered with beautiful, thick carpets and big pillows were used as chairs. Several candles were placed throughout the room and in one corner was a simple mattress made out of heather flower and moss. Now, the room wasn't that colourful- it mostly consisted of different shades of green, brown and other forest colours. But it had a very calming aura about it, which was very welcoming after so much time surrounded by such cold and emotionless technology.

"So, what did you want to ask me?" Patowan sat down on a pillow opposite me and placed a cup of tea before me. He smiled at me, and his gentle brown eyes did make me feel a bit safer than I had the past few months, but they still reminded me of my father. It made my heart hurt and I had to bite my lip so I wouldn't start crying. I took a deep breath, sipped on the tea and looked up at the man in front of me.

"Well, I was just wondering what you know about the Black Hole Generator." He looked up from his tea and lowered it from his mouth. He put it back down on the table and looked me straight in the eyes.

"Not much, I'm afraid. I only know that it was a machine created for destruction and death, and that the pieces were spread across the galaxy. Unfortunately I only know that one piece was hidden in the deepest cave at the end of the deepest tunnel on the planet Zerij." He looked down at the floor and for moment I could swear he looked ready to cry, or even really scared, so I decided to not ask about Zerij. At least, not yet. I tried to think up another good question to ask, but then he looked up and his eyes fell on my arm.

"You are injured." I looked down at my arm, that was still bandaged from the fight with Traximus. I had started to care less and less about it as it had started to hurt less and less and even though it hadn't come close to being fully healed, it wasn't as big a deal as it was before. I shrugged lightly and fingered on the bandage.

"Eh, it's just a small scratch from a battle with Traximus back in prison. It's no big deal." But the Chief didn't buy it. He just raised an eyebrow, stood and walked over to me.

"May I have a look at it?" I shrugged and peeled off the bandage, revealing the wound. It wasn't as bad as it was before, but it was still slightly red with blood, a light purple around the wound itself, and a bit of pus was seeping out of the edges. I tamped down on the worry from my medical side as I noticed that last bit- if it was leaking pus, it could be a sign of an infection. I'd been trying to prevent that, but my arm had been rather low on my priority list for the past day or so. Patowan hummed in concern as he rotated my arm to get a better look, then walked over to a small shelf filled with bottles and small boxes.

"Don't you worry, I will have that cleaned up in no time. Healing is our planet's specialty." I turned to him and raised an eyebrow.

"Healing? I thought your specialty was all things nature-slash-agriculture." Patowan chuckled and came back to me with a small bottle of bright red liquid.

"We have many talents. We all specialise in different things. We grow plants, flowers and fruits with special kinds of abilities. Now, please give me your arm." Oh, right. Mona Lisa had mentioned something about that before we landed. I let him take my arm and he opened the bottle and let a single drop of the mysterious liquid land on my wound. I braced myself, ready for it to sting, but nothing happened at first. Then a soft scent filled the air. Like that of sweet blossoms and citrus fruit. Then, as I looked down at my arm, my breath got stuck in my throat.

The wound started to change. The purple bruising around it faded away and the pus and blood either retreated back into my body or slipped out of the wound, along with whatever dirt or bacteria that managed to slip its way into the wound, somehow managing to clean itself. And finally, the whole wound started to close itself up again until all that was left was a scar, a long, thin stripe of pale green on my olive skin. And all this happened in less than ten seconds. My eyes widened and I started to twist my arm around, looking for anything that resembled my wound, blood or something MORE than the harmless mark left behind. But I couldn't find anything; just a scar from a battle wound that would no doubt disappear after some time. I flew up from my seat, grasped my arm and stared at the old man in front of me, who was smirking at me as though he was used to this reaction.

"What did you do? What'd you do?!" I twisted and turned my arm to find something, _anything_ , that would prove that he was just tricking me. Some kind of illusion or something that he pulled on guests to their planet to freak them out. But he just laughed me, put the bottle down on the table and placed a calming hand on my arm. For a reptilian creature, his hand was surprisingly warm and soft- I wondered absently if April thought the same of my touch... Although my years of experimenting with various chemicals, using and repairing (read: blindly sticking my hands up into the Shellraiser when I can't always see what I'm aiming for) complex machinery and dealing with- and cutting myself on- plenty of sharp instruments had calloused my hands up quite a bit.

"As I said, our planet is very good at healing. This particular potion comes from a rare flower, the fire lily, which only blooms during the spring and only for a few weeks. It has powers that can heal most any injuries and cure most diseases. We have been harvesting as many as we can every year for centuries and used the potion to keep our people and the environment healthy." His gentle smile faded away and he looked down at the ground.

"At least, we did until the Triceratons came here. Now we barely have enough food to feed our village, or enough potions to heal our wounded. The flowers are so few nowadays that the potion is too weak to heal and cure everything. Now it can only fully heal smaller wounds while only slightly improving the more severe ones." My eyes widened and my fingers lightly grazed over my arm. He had a potion that could heal wounds and cure diseases, that had gotten so weak over the years, that was in short supply, and he had wasted it on a wound that wasn't even that severe?

I looked down at the scar. It was so bright green that it was easy to see, but didn't quite stick out like a sore thumb. I smiled, looked into Patowan's eyes and bowed my head at him.

"Thank you, Chief Patowan. Thank you very much." He smiled, bowed his head back at me and stroked his beard.

"You are quite welcome, child." I looked up again and then thought of something, sitting down again.

"Uh, with all due respect, Chief, I'd still like know why almost everyone in the village had weapons at the ready when we came into your village. And why did your people try to kill us earlier? I mean, Mona Lisa told us that Salamandarians have always lived peacefully and calmly. So why change that all of a sudden?" He looked up at me when I mentioned his granddaughter and sighed.

"That is a long story, Donatello. For over a decade, now, life has been so much harder for us... since our children were taken that fateful day. Triceratons have come here more often, stealing our food and resources and taking many young Salamandarians as their personal slaves or as prisoners. Just to keep us in line. There was very little I could do to protect my people, and it only got worse as time went on." He sat down in front me again and sipped a little on his tea.

"After a few years, we realized that the Triceratons would not leave us alone no matter what we did or did not do. So we had to learn to at least defend ourselves. We started to make our own weapons and learned how to use them. We have patrols and guards out in the woods every hour of the day to keep an eye out for Triceratons so we will know immediately when a threat is near. Whenever they come to try and take from us, we try to fight them off, with varying results. Many of our old traditions had to be sacrificed in doing so." My eyes were glued on the old man in front of me, and even though I wanted to speak, my tongue felt dry in my mouth. Still, I managed to squeak out,

"... Old traditions?" He looked up again and sighed sadly.

"It has been tradition for every young Salamandarian to follow in their parents' footsteps when they got old enough. To become hunters, gatherers, healers and so on and so forth. In fact, Mona Lisa would have grown up to be a fine healer when she reached adulthood, just like her poor mother and father. But, sadly, they were taken from her just before she was taken away from Filione." He paused to take a deep, shaky breath and wipe his hand over his eyes before he continued. "And now almost every Salamandarian child has to prepare themselves to fight and be able to protect themselves against Triceratons and other dangerous off-worlders." My jaw hung wide open and I felt like my tongue had shriveled up and disappeared. I was speechless. And I found myself getting some more respect for Mona, now that I realized that this girl had most likely seen her parents die before she was taken away by the ones who killed them.

"That's awful..." He sighed again and gripped his teacup so tightly that his green knuckles started to turn white.

"Mm, yes, it is. Still, I am happy that we all live on our own planet. Since so many species in the galaxy now frown upon reptilian species these days, life has become so much harder for reptiles everywhere. If we lived on any other planet, we would most likely be treated worse than we are here. Thus life is better here than on many other planets." I looked up from the my tea at those last sentences and almost dropped the cup in shock. 'Many aliens frowns upon reptilian species'? I put the cup down in front of me.

"Wait, what? What do you mean? Why are other species looking down on reptiles?" Patowan smiled paternally at me, like he felt sorry for me, but also seemed surprised I didn't know this.

"You did not know?" I shook my head at him and he looked at me pityingly. "Well, ever since the Triceratons took power in the galaxy, they tried to take power over many planets, most notably planets with reptilian inhabitants. And because of this, a lot of other species started to believe that all reptiles either helped or supported Triceratons. Or that we were all the same; cold-blooded, spineless, dishonest, cruel, disrespectful, ruthless and just plain evil. In other words, that all reptiles are like Triceratons. Thus, it has led to reptiles having a harder time getting employed, finding homes or finding their place on their planets. Some planets has even banned reptiles from coming to their world." My jaw hit the ground and the tea cup fell out of my hand, spilling the tea all over the mats.

"What...? But, that... that's, that's not fair!" I wanted to say that it was racist, but for some reason I didn't think that these creatures would think of this as racism as much as, um... speciesism, I guess. Patowan jumped slightly at my outburst, but he collected himself rather quickly and took a breath, seemingly thinking over his words.

"No, it is not. But sadly, it is the way it is. And I am afraid that these thoughts and ideas towards reptiles will make your journey much harder. Many aliens will be against you and try to stop you, or believe you're not doing what you're doing for something good, but rather to overthrow the Triceratons or get attention. You will not have many people on your side in this matter." I sighed and fought against the urge to slam my head down on the table in front of me. Great. As if this journey wouldn't be hard enough as it was. My eyes fell on the cup that was still lying there on the ground and reached down to grab it.

"Yeah, I realize that. But my entire planet is at stake, here, as well as billions of innocent people. People that have never even heard of a Triceraton. They've done nothing, and they don't deserve to die because of some thousands-of-years-old vendetta. I have to try and save my planet, even if it means fighting against the entire galaxy." I put the cup down in front me again and when I looked up at Patowan, he had a gentle and somewhat proud look in his eyes.

"My child, your determination warms my heart. It is so rare to find a soul ready to fight against everything in his way to achieve his goal in these times of war. I hope that you will succeed to save your planet and stop that tyrant Zanramon from ruling over this galaxy." I smiled at him, but I still couldn't help but feel I hadn't gotten the answers I was looking for when I sought him out. Still, I had time. I could always ask him during dinner. My friends would be there, too, in case I forgot to ask something. Though that possibility was pretty slim. I had never been one to forget important details.

Patowan turned to look out of the tent as a few Salamandarians carried that huge pot toward the bonfire. He closed his eyes for a second, grabbed his walking stick and stood up before walking up to me and grabbing me by the arm, making me stand up again.

"Dinner will be put on the fire soon. You should get your friends to join us." He looked up at me curiously. "Tell me, have you ever had Filionian forest soup with bark bread?" I wrinkled my nose at him. I didn't know why, but that sounded extraordinarily unappetizing- and that was coming from me, the one who had grown up on algae and worms. I tried not to look disgusted by it, to avoid being disrespectful, but darn it, my nose was wrinkling like it had a mind of its own!

"Can't say I have, Chief." I said as casually as I could muster. He smiled and started to walk out of the tent, still gripping my arm, and led me out towards the bonfire.

"Then you are in for quite a treat. I guarantee it."

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 **A/N: And done! So, yeah, I got the whole reptile-prejudice thing from Zootopia, big deal! I came up with the idea and thought it was good, so I'm sorry if some of you are gonna sneer at the idea of putting racism or prejudice in a fanfiction, but I don't care. Besides, I think it will give me a lot of good material for the future, as far as worldbuilding goes and even character development.**

 **Also, the idea of the healing potion and flower was inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia and Tangled. In case you're interested.**

 **Either way, I hope you liked this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	38. Chapter 37, Stories around the Fire

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Okay, fun story! My Wifi has been making things extra complicated this week, since our wifi at home refused to work for a few days. Thus, I could only write this in school, during breaks and after school was done for the day. Yay, that didn't cause in inconvenience at all. Especially since it meant I couldn't do any schoolwork at home and had to do it here.**

 **So, yeah, anyone who's seen or read P** **et Sematary will see references to the infamous burial ground that brought the dead back to life (Spoiler, in case ya didn't know), even the sound of the loon, which if you haven't heard a loon cry than you'd be surprised how haunting it can sound. and yes, I based the whole planet and the Wendigo on that concept and the planet of the Aeons from the series. Only, I have another idea on what the aeons are gonna be in this story.**

 **But either way, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 37, Stories around the Fire

I drummed my fingers on the armrest of my throne, feeling my impatience rising within as I waited for Mozar to show up. We had been flying towards Filione for quite some time now, and it was starting to take too long for my liking. If we were to grab that first piece of The Heart of Darkness before that bratty terrapin, his annoying little friends and that treacherous Traximus did, we had to get there sooner rather than later.

The doors opened and Mozar scurried in, bowed before me and hit his clenched fist over his heart in respect before he looked up at me again. I could see that his fists were clenched as he straightened up again, like he always did when we were alone.

"Prime Leader Zanramon, I'm sorry for leaving you waiting for so long, but we have new information about the terrapin and his little friends." I raised my eyebrow at him, intertwined my fingers and rested my chin on them.

"Oh? Does it have anything to do with the Heart of Darkness?" Mozar took a deep breath, his fists clenched tighter and he looked down for a second before meeting my eyes again.

"Yes. Our scientists have scanned the entire planet and haven't found any sign of black matter. It's not there. It seems they are only landing there for a short amount of time. A 'pit stop', if you will, Prime Leader." What? So we have travelled this far for nothing? My hands landed on the throne's armrests and I dug my claws into the metal to try and contain my anger, taking a deep breath.

"So you are telling me that we have travelled this far for nothing?! You have wasted my time travelling to a planet that is completely useless to me?!" Mozar winced as I raised my voice, but I could still tell that he was annoyed. He bowed his head, acknowledging my fury, before daring to raise his gaze once more.

"Not entirely. Our ship's computers say that the piece is on a planet only a few days away from here. The planet of Zerij." I winced and couldn't contain the gasp of terror that came at the mere mention of that planet. Out of all the places, why did it have to be on Zerij? Why, oh WHY couldn't it have been on any other planet? A planet without murderous, undead inhabitants, the smell of death drowning out the entire atmosphere, and a demon creeping through the woods? I shuddered in my seat and gulped, looking up at my Commander.

"A-are you sure, Mozar? Or is this just a guess, like with Filione?" Mozar nodded and something in his eyes hinted that he enjoyed seeing me scared. I narrowed my eyes at him and tried to regain my composure, sitting up straight with all of the pride that being Prime Leader could elicit. "Very well, then. Set the coordinates for," I gulped, "Z-Zerij. And gather up the best warriors you can find among our troops to go on the search mission to look for the piece. We must find it before those brats do." Mozar repeated his gesture of respect.

"Of course, Prime Leader. And what of the freaks on Filione? Do you wish to simply ignore them, sir?" He tried to sound as though he was simply curious, but I could hear the underlying message in his question- _Aren't you going to take control? Are you so stupid that you won't take care of one meager threat against threat against Triceraton victory?_ I growled, but then an idea popped into my head, and a smirk spread over my face.

"Hm, I think not. Mozar, send a few smaller ships to Filione. Don't do anything too drastic, just tell them to give those Salamandarians a good scare. I doubt they will be too happy about their new little friends bringing Triceratons to their planet." Mozar bowed and left the room. I stood and went to my window, gazing down on the green and blue planet outside.

"You seem to like causing problems, you little troublemaker. Well, I hope you're ready for a real fight." My eyes narrowed and I clasped my hands behind my back, smirking down at the green forests.

"The Triceraton way."

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(Donnie's P.O.V)

The sun had almost set now, and it had gotten much darker and chillier by the time every Salamandarian in the village had gathered around- and lit- the huge bonfire. After the Chief had told me that dinner would be ready soon, I had run back to the tree where the others were waiting and called them down. Now we were all gathered on blankets and carpets around the roaring fire, waiting for the soup to be served. Starlee and I sat on one blanket together, on one side of the Chief and Mona Lisa, with Jhanna and the Professor on the Chief's other side. Traximus was so big that he had a blanket all to himself- not that any of the Salamandarians would sit anywhere near him, anyway.

The large medieval pot was lowered from the fire and placed in front of Mona Lisa. She lazily stirred the soup with a big wooden spoon before she started to ration the warm liquid into small wooden bowls, passing them around to everyone. They were given to the Chief and Starlee, who passed then them to the Salamandarians next to them, who then passed them to the people next to them, and so on and so forth until everyone had a bowl full of soup. While they were being passed around, a young female walked around with a basket full of small, round loaves of bread. I looked down into my bowl. It looked pretty close to vegetable broth, only filled with different kinds of colourful vegetables that I had never seen before, and I immediately felt put off by it. I had always been picky with food, and I had heard the stories a hundred times from Master Splinter about how difficult it was to get me to eat anything back when we were kids. So this would be a challenge. And the loaf of bread didn't look that much better. But I supposed I _would_ be able to survive on bread until the next day, when we were scheduled to leave.

Still, it felt disrespectful to not even taste it, and when I looked over at the others, who ate with good appetite, I almost felt their judgmental gazes on me even though no one seemed to be looking at me. I looked over at Jhanna, who still had yet to taste, too. She gazed up at me, shrugged and met my eyes, and I could almost hear what she was thinking.

'I'll eat it if you do.' She said with her stare, and I looked down into my bowl again. I took a deep breath, raised the bowl to my lips and sipped on it. I had my eyes shut before I tasted, but the second the soup came into contact with my tongue, my eyes flew open. I lowered the bowl slightly and licked my lips and around the inside of my mouth to get a good grip on the taste.

"Wow... Chief, this is amazing!" And it really was. The soup was heavenly and the vegetables were better than any of their counterparts on Earth. There was more of a fruity tang to them than anything vegetable-like. Like pears, bananas, apples and pineapple. But only a little. They still had their own unique taste to them that kept me aware of the fact that these were vegetables and not fruit. Chief Patowan smiled widely at me and nodded in gratitude. Jhanna's eyes widened and suddenly she was in a hurry to taste, too. When she lowered the bowl from her lips, she had a wide, rare smile on her face.

"Agreed. This is really delicious." I took the loaf of bread, dipped it in the soup and took a huge bite. The bread itself was good, but not quite as good as the soup- my guess was because I wasn't used to eating bread without butter on it and it felt a little drier without it. I also assumed that all of this tasted so good because everything that was in this soup, and the bread, was homemade or grown in healthy earth with love and care. I turned to Starlee and saw that both she and Traximus were eating with just as much gusto as everyone else. Only the Professor didn't eat anything, and for obvious reasons.

We all sat and ate for some time without anyone saying a word, but when I had finished my bowl of soup and put it down in front of me, Chief Patowan looked up from his own bowl and smiled at me.

"Would you like some more, Donatello?" I felt a little torn. I always felt greedy whenever I tried to ask for more food (whenever there _was_ more food) back home, so now, when someone else was asking me, I almost said 'no' out of reflex. But I still felt hungry, since I didn't finish my lunch earlier, so I fought against the reflex and held out my bowl for Starlee to pass on to the Chief and Mona.

"Yes, please." While Mona Lisa refilled my bowl, Jhanna gazed up from her food and at the old lizard.

"Chief Patowan, I don't mean to be rude or to offend, but may I ask why you are being so nice to us? I mean, how do you know that we are not your enemy?" The Chief paused, handed the bowl over to Starlee so she could give it to me, and sighed.

"Because you have a Triceraton along with you and treat him like a friend. Not many people these days would let a Triceraton sit so close to them during dinner- let alone have one alongside them on a mission. Triceratons are being sneered at, feared or despised throughout the galaxy, so the fact that you have one as your friend and have faith that he is your friend and will not harm you is a reassuring sign." He sipped on his soup. "And there's the fact that you are standing up to Zanramon by trying to get the pieces of the Heart of Darkness before he does. That takes a whole lot of courage, not to mention heart." Mona Lisa suddenly looked away, ashamed, and nibbled on her bread. After hearing some more about how she was orphaned taken captive when she was just a child, I had started to feel more sympathetic toward her. But I'd still like to know what was going on inside her head right now.

Starlee, who had been uncharacteristically quiet all evening, except for complimenting the food very quickly, tore her eyes from the fire, where they had glued for most of the dinner, and put the bowl down in her lap.

"Oh, yeah? Well then why did you attack us? I mean, if you were scared of Traximus, I can understand that, but why attack us? And call us Federation scum? What did the Federation ever do to you? We've done you no wrong." I suddenly felt incredibly uncomfortable and tried to hide my face in my bowl. Traximus looked away and the Professor fingered a little on the grass around him. But Jhanna looked somewhat amused and as if she was thinking, 'well, this oughta be good'. Mona Lisa rolled her eyes and pinched the space between her eyebrows while shaking her head slightly, and the chief looked completely thrown off by what Starlee had just said.

"Child, do you really have no idea?" She shook her head and looked just as wide-eyed and naive as she had when she and I had talked to each other about ourselves during breakfast earlier today. Mona looked up from her hand and at Starlee with a very _done_ facial expression.

"So you mean to tell me that you have no idea how the Federation landed on D'hoonib without permission, killed the real rulers and took over the planet as their own? Or how they've declared war on everyone on said planet, just to keep the power? Or how they're one of the most brutal and evil species in the galaxy? 'Cause that's some pretty basic info about them." The Chief smacked Mona hard on the arm and stared her down with anger in his eyes. She immediately shrunk back in shame, like a dog being told off by their stern master. Starlee's eyes filled with horror and her body froze up entirely. She started to shake her head in denial, then her face scrunched up in anger.

"No. No, no, that's not true! You're lying!" The Chief opened his mouth to calm her, but Jhanna seemed to have had enough of Starlee being kept in the dark or not believing what she knew was true. She put her bowl down so quickly and slammed it so hard on the ground that soup almost flew out onto the carpet she was sitting on.

"Wake up, Starlee!" All eyes were now on Jhanna, but she didn't care and just stared her little sister straight in the eyes with anger and annoyance. "I've been telling you these things for years. I've told you how our father tried to use us for his own gain and not for the good of anyone else. I've tried to tell you this for years, but you refused to believe or listen to me. And now these guys are telling you the exact same thing, and you're still not listening? Grow up!"

At first Starlee didn't say anything. She just looked down at her boots and tried to process what Jhanna had said before she looked up at her older sister again. "B-but... Dad said-"

Jhanna was quick to interrupt. "Dad lied to you. He kept you in the dark to make sure you wouldn't rebel, like I did. Don't you get it? He only used your smarts and computer skills for himself. He doesn't really care about our people or anyone other than himself." Starlee's eyes suddenly seemed hollow and she looked down at the blanket. I put my hand on her back and tried to console her, but she didn't acknowledge me. Chief Patowan stroked his beard before gently brushing Starlee's hand.

"I'm sorry you had to find out this way, my child. But what your sister says is unfortunately true. The Federation's biggest goal for a long time has been to overthrow the Triceratons, and thus they have tried to take over several planets, just as the Triceratons have done. They have declared war on several different races and their homeworlds, and many look at the Federation in a similar way to how they would the Triceratons. And now you come to our planet with the Federation symbol on your uniform." Starlee looked down at her t-shirt and the symbol on her brown vest- a planet with a four-point star over it- and lowered her head in shame. Judging by how she was slightly trembling, I could only assume that she was crying. At least a little. I rubbed my hand over her back and put the bowl of soup back in her hand so she would start eating again and think of something else for a while.

The silence that followed was so thick and awkward that you could practically feel it wrapping around you like a thick blanket of discomfort. Jhanna grabbed her bowl and started eating again, and even Starlee had started to sip a little on the soup, but she was clearly not feeling well right now. And if Jhanna saw that Starlee had a few tears falling down her cheeks, she either didn't think much of it or didn't care. No one said anything for what felt like hours, but after a while I remembered what we all had agreed on earlier; to get as much info as we could out of these guys about the Black Hole Generator. So I cleared my throat and looked back at Patowan.

"So, uh, Chief? You wouldn't happen to know anything about the planet Zerij, would you? We think that's where the first piece of the Black Hole Generator is." Everything froze. What little talking had been going on during the evening silenced, everyone stopped eating, and the Chief almost choked on his bread when he heard the word 'Zerij'. Seriously, what was with these guys? How would I know what to say without sending them into a panic attack or something?

Fortunately the Chief recovered a lot quicker this time, and for a second he appeared very sad. Like he was about to cry as well. Then he took a deep breath and looked up at me. "Yes. Unfortunately, I do know quite a bit about Zerij. But I warn you, it's not a very pleasant story." The Professor looked at the older man.

"We're sorry if we're reopening old wounds, but we could really use all information we can find. So if you know anything about the planet that we should know, it would be most beneficial." We all watched the old leader, who sighed again and looked up at us.

"Very well, I will tell you. But I will tell you right now that it's not a story for the faint of heart. If it becomes too much for you, you may tell me to stop at any moment." He made himself comfortable on his blanket, sat up on his knees, put his soup bowl away and started to tell us his story.

"Filione was not always our homeworld. A long time ago, the ancient Salamandarians lived on Zerij in a very similar way to how we do here. But that all changed about a thousand years ago. After the war with the Triceratons against the Kraang, the Intergalactic Allegiance took the fragments of the Heart of Darkness and hid them in the most dangerous and well-hidden places in the galaxy. They took one of pieces to Zerij and asked the inhabitants to keep and protect the piece, and to make sure no one ever found it again. The inhabitants agreed, and the piece was placed in the deepest cave in the planet's underground cave system. They kept it there for years without anything happening or anyone coming to look for it." He took another deep, shaky breath.

"What they did not know was that there was another worldly presence on their planet- and he was very interested in the new item. You see, Zerij was like Filione; no technology had ever been allowed there until then. And the strange power it radiated interested this creature. And somehow, it absorbed it. And the darkness he absorbed changed him." Every eye in the crowd was glued on the Chief, except for those of the oldest ones, as they seemed to try and squelch old, horrible memories. Parents covered their kids' ears or told them to go back home to get something or go to bed. It seemed like this was a story many here had already heard before. Starlee- who, while they still were wet and slightly red, had her eyes locked on Patowan- seemed to have forgotten about her tears. Jhanna rested her chin on her loosely clenched fist, her feet pressed against each other and her knees slightly elevated, with her elbow on the inside of one of her thighs. She was listening as intensely as everybody else.

"The inhabitants started to notice how the planet began to change. The forest started to wilt and die, the flowers and grass dried up and died and the ground turned dry and nothing was able to grow. But although they noticed this, they chose not to care. The new piece of technology had inspired them to allow more technology on their planet, and they started to travel to other planets to find more. The Salamandarians, whose job was to take care of the woodlands and the animals, started to ignore their responsibilities, since now food could be found much more easily through technology, and the other inhabitants started to build up a more advanced civilisation in their villages. No one cared that the woods, the rivers, and the animals all suffered and wilted away. But then, It showed up." It? What the heck was an It? He said it with such disgust, yet so much fear that I wasn't sure what to make of it.

"It? What 'It'? What happened?" Starlee asked and wiped her hand over her eyes, the reason why they were wet to begin with long forgotten, but was instantly shushed by Jhanna, who almost glared at her for interrupting. The Chief looked at Starlee for a second before shuddering and continuing.

"It appeared. The Wendigo." The Wendigo. I don't know what it was, but that word made my blood freeze and a cold shudder go throughout my body. And from the looks of it, even the woods seemed to fear it. A cold, strong wind blew through the village, a loud noise that I can only assume was a bird (it sounded scarily close to a loon) cried out hauntingly in the distance and suddenly the air was filled with a stench. A stench I shouldn't be able to identify. Rotting, moldy flesh, dried up bodies, blood, ground turned sour, the smell of death itself. I shuddered again and creeped a little closer to the fire.

"The Wendigo was a complete mystery. Some say he was a demon that had awoken from an eternal slumber when the forest started to die and had risen up to get revenge on the entire planet. Others say he had come with the Heart of Darkness, and was connected to the horrible device in some way. But I believe that he was an Aeon fallen from Grace. An Aeon stripped of his power and banished to our planet as a punishment." Aeons, now what the heck were they? Some kind of beings people around here pray to? But seeing how he was so deep into telling this other story, I decided to ask a little later.

"How this creature came to our planet, and how it got its horrible powers, no one knows. But we can all agree on that when he started to show up, things took a horrible turn for the worst. His presence killed whatever life was still on our planet, the ground he walked on turned sour and there was little to no food left. He used his horrible powers to not only torture the living, but to give the ground evil powers, so whenever someone died and got buried, they would come back to life due to the sour and possessed ground, if only to keep playing with and torturing them. So even in death there was no way of escaping him. But that was not the worst- the worst was what he did to the people who died. When they came back to the world of the living, they would be nothing but shells of their former selves. He possessed them with his own spirit, turning them evil, murderous and- in some cases- even cannibalistic. They would go home to their families and friends and spread the evil spirit onto them, either by killing them or passing the spirit on by biting them. Some were even eaten by their own friends or family. The Wendigo would even attack those who walked into the woods and possess them, so there was no escape from the monster." I sat completely still, my entire body frozen with horror, fear, disgust and shock. This story... how could all this actually have happened? Starlee's jaw hung open and her eyes were filled with horror, and Jhanna had her eyes glued on Patowan. And if I am gonna be completely honest with you guys, I started to question whether going to Zerij was such a good idea.

"More people died with every passing day, and only a few of the planet's inhabitants, including a handful of Salamandarians, managed to flee before they were infected. I don't know what happened to the other species that lived on Zerij, but we found Filione. We landed there and decided to live like we had used to. But this time we destroyed our spaceships and any technology we had with us and vowed to never let what happened to Zerij happen ever again. And we did, and we have lived peacefully for many centuries without any technology or help from other planets, except for the money they pay us for our cures, balms and food." 'Until the Triceratons attacked, that is', I thought to myself, but I didn't say that. Instead I looked into the fire for a second before looking back at Patowan.

"So you've forbidden technology because of what happened on Zerij? I mean, are you afraid of becoming corrupted like your ancestors?" He nodded and I pressed my lips together, trying to choose my next words carefully. But Patowan was quicker.

"Yes. We saw how our world fell apart due to the technology placed in our planet's keep, and we never want the same thing to happen again. Thus, we're trying to use as little technology as possible, except for the ships we came here in, and that we fly to different places to sell our produce." I drew a deep breath and stared into the fire. Seeing how I was a guy who adored technology and couldn't possibly live without anything to tinker with or computers to work with, it was a little weird to listen to somebody talk about it like this. I could understand why they felt the way they did, and I'm not saying their fears were unfounded or anything. But even after hearing all this, I still couldn't help but feel conflicted emotions about their fears and beliefs. Emotions that went against what I had been taught over the year we had spent fighting the Kraang and Shredder.

Now, I am not gonna sit here and talk like I'm the all-knowing expert when it comes to everything based on technology. I'm not- I know I still have a lot to learn about the subject. But I know enough to say with my hand on my heart that a piece of technology cannot destroy an entire planet. It can be used to corrupt an entire planet, but the tech itself cannot destroy anything, unless it's being used to do so. Technology is nothing but a tool to be used. It's not the gun's fault that people are shot, it's the fault of the people that use it to do so. Or, um... something like that.

"You shouldn't fear technology just because of a bad experience. I mean, I'm not saying that your fears are unfounded or anything, but technology is created for destruction, not to destroy. People can use technology for evil, but tech itself can't actually destroy anything. And if you've lived here for a thousand years without having the urge to make things easier with tech, that means you have self control. So it should be fine, right?" Patowan didn't look at me, he just looked down at the ground and sighed heavily.

"I'd like to believe you, son. But after seeing what happened to my home, I'm just not too open to the idea. And besides, we are all happy with our lives right now. Isn't that right, Mona Lisa?" He turned to look at his granddaughter with a forced smile, and Mona returned an equally forced smile and a nod.

"Uh, yes. Of course we are, Grandfather. Why wouldn't we be?" But when Patowan looked away, she turned her head and looked down at the ground and her face showed anything but happiness. I didn't really have an answer to that, and couldn't come up with a response that wouldn't sound disrespectful, so I just stared into the fire.

After a while, Jhanna cleared her throat, drew her knees to her chest and placed her hands on the ground on either side of herself to keep balance.

"But what happened on Zerij after you guys left? Are there anyone living there now? And what about the Wendigo- is that freak still there?" Patowan sighed and lowered his head, shaking it in despair.

"I don't know. But that is highly likely. Most demons are incapable of dying, and if the planet is still anything like it was a thousand years ago, then it's still a horrible planet of death, pain and suffering, even without the beast." He looked up again. "As for any inhabitants, I don't know. Some many had already become victims of the Wendigo's evil that if there are still people there that are still alive and not possessed by the monster then it would be nothing short of a miracle." He took a deep breath and tried to smile, but it still looked too forced and unnatural. "It just goes to show you that desire leads to obsession, and obsession leads to consumption of both the mind and the soul." Out of instinct- or whatever- I started to think of the Shredder, and nodded to show I agreed. I mean, who could argue with that after hearing about him? I snorted to myself and picked up my bowl.

"Tell me about it." I tried to eat the last of my soup, but suddenly, after all the talk of death and evil spirits and the scent of rotten flesh that was still in the air, the soup wasn't quite as appetizing as it had been earlier in the evening. I put the bowl down in front me again, moving closer to the fire to get rid of the chill that still wouldn't go away after mere mentioning of the Wendigo.

The silence that followed after the story was finished was nothing short of uncomfortable. Jhanna picked up her bowl again and drank the last of her soup, picked up the vegetables she hadn't eaten with the soup and put them in her mouth. Starlee was playing a little with the grass in front of her, her hair covering most of her face. Traximus tried to look stoic, but I could tell he was distraught by the story he had just heard. The Professor bleeped a little, and looked from one of us to the other, trying to think of something good to say. But the Chief beat him to it when he looked up at Starlee and Jhanna.

"And what about you, girls? What is your story?" Jhanna looked up from the bowl and Starlee from the grass. Jhanna just shrugged her shoulders and looked down at her lap.

"Not much to tell, really. My father pretty much kicked me out of the family and let me grow up without help from anyone. Our mother left pretty early 'cause she disagreed so much with what our father did. I grew up on the streets most of the time, taught myself how to fight and my education is pretty limited. I tried to escape D'hoonib for years, but only managed to get away when The Professor, Donnie and I were captured by Mozar and his troops. That's pretty much it." Patowan nodded, though he looked a little disappointed that she hadn't had more to tell him. And when he looked over at Starlee, and saw she wasn't in a storytelling mood, he looked back at Jhanna. She leaned in closer to him and whispered in his ear.

"She's pretty much never left our home, let alone our planet. This is the first month she's had outside the palace. She never knew what kind of man our father was. She's super smart, but naive. She doesn't understand much of the world." Jhanna had tried to whisper, but she wasn't very quiet, and both Starlee and I heard her. Starlee glared daggers at her sister, but didn't say anything. She bit down on her bread and looked away from her. I looked between the two girls and felt torn on who to 'agree' with. My heart told me to sympathize with Starlee, but I knew Jhanna better than her and knew how she thought and acted. But I didn't want to pick sides, either, so...

"Donatello?" I jumped and looked at the Chief.

"Huh?" He smiled and both he and Jhanna looked at me, and I got the feeling that he had called my name at least twice before he got my attention.

"What about you, Donatello? Do you have a story to tell us?" A story? About myself, or what? I had to stop and think for a second. What kind of story could I tell these people? I guess I could tell the story of our origin, but then they would have questions about... I sighed. Why not? It's not like they would go to Earth and attack them.

"Well, I guess I know this one story. And this is a true story, that I was told many times when I was a kid." Mona Lisa rolled her eyes, sat up straight after sitting with a hunched back for a while after her grandfather's scolding, and now looked rather bored.

"Wait, this isn't gonna be one of those, 'this happened to my great-grandfather and his friends a long time ago' stories, or something like that, right?" I glared at her, sat up cross-legged, resting my elbows on my knees.

"No. This happened to my father." That made her lose her bored, disinterested snark. She suddenly looked more reverent and nodded at me to keep going. "A few years ago, in the land called Japan on my home planet, two men grew up as brothers; Hamato Yoshi and Oroku Saki. They were as close as two brothers could get, and were rivals in all things, as brothers are." I now had everyone's attention on me, which felt a little weird, so I kept my eyes locked on the fire, which had started to shrink down. But I could still see, in the corner of my eye, that Jhanna was looking at me with wide eyes. Jhanna and I had grown to become really good friends, yet she knew so little about me and my life back on Earth. Though to be fair, I knew very little about her, too, like what her childhood had been like or how she had learned how to fight, and things like that. Starlee, who had already heard the story, didn't look quite as interested, but she still had her eyes on me and a small smile on her face.

"What the brothers didn't know was that they both came from different families. For centuries, two ninja clans, the Hamato clan and the Foot clan, had been at war with each other. And after one fight, Yoshi's father- Hamato Yuuta- found Saki as a baby and decided to take him in, despite the fact that he was the son of the enemy." Patowan smiled and stroke his beard, and for a second I didn't see him, but Master Splinter. I sighed heavily and tried to hold back my tears.

"Hm, a noble man indeed. And he raised this boy as his child?" I nodded and wiped both my hands over my face to make it look like I was tired instead of wiping away any trace of tears.

"Yeah, he did. He raised him as his own son, and for years, Saki lived blissfully unaware of his true heritage. But that all changed when both Yoshi and Saki met Tang Shen, a young beautiful woman who both men fell for. She grew to like both of them, but eventually fell in love with Yoshi. The two of them married and had a daughter together. Life for Yoshi could not have been better." I could see Jhanna smile lightly and Starlee also smiled when I said that, even though she already knew what eventually happened to Shen and Miwa. Well, not so much what happened to Miwa, but still, she had already heard this story. The Professor smiled his happy robot smile, but Traximus looked more interested in knowing what was gonna happen next.

"I take it that happiness didn't last, did it?" I looked up at him for a second and then shook my head.

"No, it didn't. Saki did not take the rejection very well, and his jealousy of Yoshi eventually turned into hatred when he one day learned of his true identity and where he came from. He directed his anger and hatred towards Yoshi, since he was convinced that Yoshi had stolen his love from him. And one night, he struck. And in all that commotion, a blow that was meant for Yoshi struck Tang Shen and killed her." A gasp was heard throughout the crowd of Salamandarians- and others- and Starlee covered her mouth with her hand. She hadn't heard this part of the story, and she was clearly shocked to hear this. Even Jhanna looked appalled, and she seemed like a girl that was incredibly hard to scare.

"What happened next...?" Starlee asked softly, removing her hand from her mouth. I sighed and leaned back a little, placing my hands in the grass behind me to support myself.

"Well, Saki was so full of hate and lust for vengeance that he didn't see himself as responsible for anything bad that had happened, despite the fact that Yoshi had done him no wrong. He blamed Yoshi for the death of Tang Shen, lit fire to their home and left Yoshi to his fate. And in the midst of all that chaos, Saki stole away Yoshi's baby daughter and raised her as his own child, raising her to believe that Yoshi had killed her mother and filling her with hatred for the man he knew was her real father." Salamandarians let out upset murmurs and turned to each other, and I heard them ask themselves how a man could be so horrible. Jhanna's eyes widened in anger; she clenched her fists, which shook in fury.

"What a monster... How could he be so... so," She tried to find the right word, but when she realized she couldn't find a good enough word she just screamed in anger and hit her fists against the ground, startling the Professor, who started to pat her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down.

"Calm down, Jhanna. Take a breath and calm yourself." She was breathing heavily and showed no signs of wanting to calm down, but she pressed her lips together to keep herself from saying something bad and stared down at the ground. Traximus peered down at me.

"What happened to Yoshi?" I stretched out my legs, that had become sore from me sitting cross-legged for so long, and kept my eyes on the fire in front of me.

"He fled the country so that Saki wouldn't be able to find out that he was still alive. He fled to another country, across the planet, to a big city called New York. There he was determined to try and start over with a new life. One day, he walked into a pet store and bought for pet turtles-" I caught myself too late and looked up at the lizards around the fire. Was it wrong to say that lizards and reptiles could be bought as pets on Earth? They _did_ look a little suspicious at what I had just said. I smiled sheepishly at them and shrugged.

"Eh, heh, on my planet, humans are the dominant species. They look kinda like them," I pointed at Starlee and Jhanna, "only a little different. The, uh, 'animals' on my planet are seen as just animals. And the reptiles on my planet aren't like you or me. They're not sentient, intelligent or able of the things we are. It's not the same as what the Triceratons are doing to other races." I lifted my fingers to do air quotes on the word 'animals' and tried to make myself understood, but now they just looked more confused than anything else.

"Uh, nevermind. Anyway, as Yoshi walked home with his pets, he ran into a strange man that he decided to follow, sensing that something was wrong with him. He saw two identical men in an alley, dealing with a canister with a glowing substance in it. But then, when he accidentally stepped on a rat, they saw Yoshi and tried to attack him. While he tried to defend himself, the canister hit him and his turtles, and it mutated him into a half-human, half-rat mutant and the turtles mutated into humanoid turtles. Yoshi took pity on the babies and decided to take care of them as his own sons, and he did. He raised my brothers and I in the arts of Ninjutsu and self-defence, and loved us as his own flesh and blood." Everybody stared at me. Jhanna's anger had drained out of her and she looked at me with awe.

"You're... a Kraang experiment?" I glared slightly at her. Here I had just told a very personal story about my father and his life, and THAT was her first question once it was over? However, I'd never really considered it in that phrasing before… anyone else, upon hearing the story, simply got stuck on the fact that there was a _real explanation_ for why we, mutant turtles, existed. Nobody really cared that we were basically made by that mutagen. It was odd to think that basically, we _were_ Kraang experiments, even if it was through an accident. I rolled my eyes and drew my legs close to me, away from the fire.

"Uh, I'm the byproduct of the Kraang's mutagen, yes. They had been on our planet for thousands of years and no one knew of them at that point. In fact, a lot of people don't know about them right now." I thought for a second. "Or at least, so I assume. It's been a few months." I whispered the last part and wrapped my arms around my legs. Then another voice was heard from the crowd.

"There are on Kraang on your planet?" Samu called out from his seat on the other side of the fire and a few feet away from Jhanna and the Professor. I nodded and started to finger the wrappings around my feet.

"Yeah. They've been staying on our planet for thousands of years, trying to mutate our world to fit their needs and not those of the native inhabitants, humans. Exactly why, I'm not sure, but I think it's because they want to hide from the Triceratons. In fact, that's the reason why the Triceratons are looking for the Black Hole Generator pieces; to go to my planet and destroy the Kraang. But, anyway, my brothers and I have spent the last year trying to stop them from taking over our world and get them to leave Earth." Or, almost a year and a half for them. I had spent the last three months on a different planet, in prison, on a spaceship and on this planet. I looked down at the ground, but then back up again when I felt Starlee's hand on my arm. She smiled comfortingly at me and I placed my hand over hers, trying to tell her I was fine through my smile. Mona brushed some hair that had fallen from her ponytail out of her eyes.

"You have brothers?" Her voice was so soft it was mostly a whisper, and I almost didn't hear her; it cracked a little at the word 'brothers'. She sounded genuinely surprised and almost compassionate. As if she now had a reason to feel sorry for me. I nodded and tried to seem like I didn't care, though my emotions were stirring up a storm inside my chest, heart and head.

"Uh, yeah. I have three brothers: Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo. Leo and Raph are my older brothers, and Mikey's the youngest. I mean, we don't actually have any facts that prove this, but it's always been kind of an unspoken agreement between us and-" I realized I was about to start rambling again and quickly shut my mouth and averted my eyes.

"Oh. I... I didn't think you had a family. I mean, you've never really talked about them." Mona twirled her hair around her finger, looking a tad less defensive now than she ever had during our time together on the ship. _That_ was welcomed, but why did she have ask me about the guys I didn't want to think about?

"No, I've had so much to think about lately that I guess I didn't have time to think of them." I tried to sound nonchalant, but inside, my emotions were running all over the place. Still, I put a smile on my face and looked at the others around me. Patowan smiled at me and stroked his beard.

"How interesting. And you and your brothers have been on many adventures?" My smile got wider and I sat up straighter, drawing my legs into the lotus position.

"Well, yeah, sure. We've been through quite a bit." A certain memory entered my brain and a light chuckle escaped my lips. "I remember when we sneaked out of our home while we were grounded and ended up creating a supervillain because of it." Sure, it hadn't been very fun when it happened, but now, looking back on it, there was enough irony in it to laugh at the memory of it. Starlee smiled fondly at me, but Jhanna just raised a confused eyebrow before she shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. Mona had tilted her head to the side, but she looked more curious than she did confused. Patowan smiled at me.

"Hm, and you defeated him?" I nodded with a smile. He stroked his beard more and looked at me with interested and curious eyes.

"Tell me, are your brothers like you?" Oh, no. Why couldn't I ever keep my mouth shut? Why did I mention my brothers when I knew I didn't want to talk about them, and knew at least _one_ person would ask me about them? I guess this is what you get when you tell the story of your father's past. I sighed and leaned a back a little, resting my weight on my hands.

"Well, that defines what you mean by 'like me'. Leo is the oldest; he's disciplined, strong, caring, a bit overprotective and cautious at times, but that just shows that he cares. He's the kind of brother that would rush straight into a burning building or blow himself up if it meant we would all be safe. He's always trying to be there for us and the ones that need him. He can be a bit annoying at times, as he can be a teacher's pet and, without fail, a perfectionist."

"Raph is hotheaded, irrational, impatient, stubborn, violent, reckless, thoughtless, crude, unpleasant, moody and a lot of other things I could list, but that would take all night. He has a rough side. A really, really rough side. Not even as much a 'side' as a 'constant behavioral pattern'. But deep inside his cold, cruel and unpleasant heart, he does care. Even if he doesn't show that often. He's nothing short of a pure warrior and immensely loyal and he'd do anything to protect us. Even though he has moments of being a bit of a bully."

"And Mikey is, well, the best thing I can say is that he's Mikey. He's... well, he's dancing to his own set of pipes. He's random, wild, crazy, and highly optimistic. I've started to think he lives in his own little world, seeing how he doesn't seem to see things the way the rest of us do. He's also pretty simple-minded and has trouble focusing, but he's by no means stupid. He's just got a unique way of thinking. Really, the fact that we are the same species and same kind of mutants are the only things we have in common. We are all so very different from each other. And that's not even counting in our relationships with April and Casey." I said the last part more to myself, but Starlee and Traximus still heard me, because _of course they did_.

"Who are April and Casey?" I immediately blushed and looked down at the ground, trying to hide my red cheeks. My heart started beating little crazy and I almost thought it would jump straight through my chest.

"Uh, A-April's a- a girl we h-happen to know. W-we saved her from the K-Kraang when we went into the city for the first time. That's how we found out about the Kraang in the first place." I both commended myself for not stuttering in that last part and criticised myself for stuttering in the first place. I saw how both Traximus and Jhanna got sly smirks on their faces and I could tell that they could see and hear that I had feelings for April. Like it was my fault. I glared over at both of them, folded my arms over my chest and pouted. Very childishly might I add.

"Shut up!" Jhanna raised her hands in a defensive manner, but kept her stupid smirk. Clearly she had more of a Raph-Mikey-hybrid side than she let on. And she clearly enjoyed this more than I liked.

"I didn't say anything." I glared at her. Starlee, on the other hand, clasped her hands together and held them right under her chin, in the sort of 'aww' manner I had seen April and even Mikey do a few times. And sometimes the others, but it was mostly to mock or tease someone. Or, in Leo's case, whenever something awesome happened on Space Heroes.

"Aw, that's adorable! You like her, don't you? You know, _like_ _her_ like her." I grumbled and turned away from her, still pouting and with my arms over my chest. Starlee, Jhanna, Traximus, the Professor, Patowan and even Mona Lisa laughed at me, and I felt my blush spread all over my face and down my neck a little. Jhanna rested her hand on her chin and asked me slyly,

"And this Casey person? Is that a girl, too?" I was so thrown off by her question that I almost started to laugh. Casey, a girl? The thought alone made me want to smile. But because I had been so deadset on being mad at them, I didn't quite find the humour in it at the moment. I just looked over at Jhanna and lost most of my glare.

"No, he's Raph's best friend. He's pretty much a copy of Raph, only cockier and more annoying. We only met him a few months ago. He and I didn't grow that close as friends, but he's okay. I guess." I didn't want to say anything about my rivalry with Casey over April to these guys. It just sounded so petty compared to the other things we had talked about this evening. But they all seemed satisfied with the little info they got from me, and Traximus looked up at the sky. The stars were out now, and two moons shone down on us; one that was really close to and another one that seemed to be on the other side of the forest.

"It's getting late, my friends. We should probably get back to the treehouse. We are getting up early tomorrow." I almost expected myself to protest, as I was still curious about these guys and their planet, but seeing as how we had been sitting there for hours and talked about so much, I really felt myself getting more and more tired. So instead I stood, stretched out my tired muscles and thanked Chief Patowan for dinner before we all started to head back to our lodgings. But in the moonlight I could see that Starlee suddenly seemed troubled. Her eyes that, just moments ago, had been sparkling and full of happiness, were now so dejected- a look I recognised all too well. It was the same look I got whenever Leo didn't want to listen to me, when Raph insulted me and Mikey ruined an experiment that had taken a lot of time to prepare. A look of feeling like you were being used, condescended to or not being taken seriously.

I looked between her and Jhanna, and then decided to tell Jhanna that she probably should talk to her sister. I knew that she probably needed a shoulder to lean on right now.

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 **A/N: Wow, I'm just imagining how long this chapter would have been if I had put this together with last chapter. I mean, 5808 + 9313 words? That would be about 19 pages! Wow, my beta would have killed me if I sent her that. And it probably would have been way too long for me to write, her to beta-read and for all the information I'm giving you to sink in properly.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everyone!**


	39. Chapter 38, Late nights on Filione

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: I seem to have found a nice time on every Wednesday to write. Very good time during the day, since I have such long school hours. Still, these chapters are always nice, with just the character interactions.**

 **I hope you'll like this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 38, Late nights on Filione

If you think climbing a rope ladder is hard, you should try climbing a rope ladder in complete darkness, with your only light source being moonlight shining through the thick canopy above you. Trust me, that's a whole lot harder than it sounds. Especially if you are, like me, extremely tired after a whole day of craziness. It was extraordinarily hard to either know where to put your feet or where to grab at. But, fortunately, the Professor was climbing in the lead and his eyes worked as flashlights, which made things easier for all of us as the rest of us climbed up. Once he had gotten up, he stood and looked down towards the ground, illuminating our climb. But when I looked down to see if the others were doing well, I noticed that Starlee was distracted and climbing very slowly at the back of the line. And Jhanna didn't seem to either notice or care.

I sighed and tried to climb faster after the Professor. There were times when I cursed myself (or when my brothers teased me) for having such a big heart and caring so much about others. I felt bad for Starlee. She had just had her entire world and view of her family shattered, and understandably wasn't taking it very well. It felt so wrong to see such an optimistic and happy girl so sad, her eyes so hollow instead of crinkling at the edges with her smile and sparkling with curiosity. But, at the same time, I knew it had been necessary to tell her the truth, and I couldn't really blame Jhanna for finally losing her patience with her sister and telling her like it is. Still, Jhanna wasn't a very sensitive or thoughtful person, and seemed to be a big supporter of the tough love approach to familial relationships. But, the way I saw it, she didn't seem to know the line between being cruel in order to be kind and just being cruel.

 _"Wait, do you still think you have a shot with her?"_

 _"W-well, I-I mean, I-"_

 _"Wow. That is so adorable! And sad. It's sadorable."_

 _"If you want to impress April, better leave me out of it."_

I growled under my breath heaved myself over the edge of the porch. 'Stupid Raph', I thought to myself. Why did he always have be such a jerk? Did it seriously hurt him to even try to be a little nicer? Or was it in his DNA to be a jerk? I clenched my hands and leaned back against the wall of the hut, waiting for the others to get up. I had to take a deep breath. Jhanna was only a few seconds after me, then came Traximus up the other ladder, and then Starlee. Jhanna stretched her arms over her head and yawned.

"I'm exhausted. Why did they have to build their houses up in thousand-foot-tall trees?" She sounded much crankier and frustrated when she was tired- I had learned as much after being imprisoned with and living in the same space as her for the last few days. The best thing to do was try to ignore it and talk to her like normal, or to just ignore her altogether and let her be cranky. Besides, it wasn't like I couldn't see her point. The whole idea of building their houses up in trees this tall was pretty weird. Traximus sighed heavily and stretched his back.

"Hm, yes. It is very testing for your muscles, but at least they get some exercise every day. And maybe there are dangerous animals down on the ground at night. Mew did say that it was dangerous here at night." Jhanna nodded and brushed her fingers through her bangs tiredly. I rubbed my hands over my face and started to walk into the hut, with the Professor, Traximus and Jhanna behind me.

The inside of the hut was nothing special. A couple of thin beds made out of something that looked very much like heather plants and moss with matching pillows- very similar to the one I had seen inside the Chief's tent. But that was it. Jhanna sat down on one of them and started to undo her ponytails. Her eyes seemed almost hollow and she looked both bored and annoyed at the same time. The same kind of hollowness you get in your eyes when you're too tired to emote or think of anything besides getting into bed.

"So, what do you guys think of what the Chief said? You know, about Zerij and the Wendigo and all that?" The Professor shrugged and shook his head.

"I don't really know. I don't know if I'd say that he's lying or making it up, but I have never heard of demons draining the life out of planets- or demons at all, for that matter. I just don't know what to make of it." Jhanna sneered and brushed through her hair with her fingers before she pulled off her boots and took off her belt, placing it beside the bed.

"Well, I, for one, don't think it's true. I mean, the inhabitants of Zerij becoming obsessed with technology and not caring about their world as much as they should, leading to it becoming destroyed and mostly dead? I can buy that- that has happened before. Different species have destroyed their home worlds due to shortsightedness and arrogance. But a supernatural being stalking them and causing them to kill, spreading death over an entire planet? I don't think so. It's probably just a ghost story these guys tell their kids." Traximus sat down on his own bed, the planks creaking slightly under his weight, and started to remove his own gear.

"I don't know, it did not seem like he was making things up. He seemed almost scared when he told the story. I don't think it's made up." Jhanna rolled her eyes and lied down on the bed with a soft groan.

"Ugh, come on, Trax! These guys believe in the Aeons! It just can't be real." There it was again. The Aeons. What were they? And what was this whole thing about believing in them? Were they real beings or what?

"What are the Aeons?" Everyone turned to look at me with wide eyes. Except for Jhanna, who just looked unimpressed.

"Nothing. Just stories and make-believe beings naive and stupid people believe in. Fairytales." The Professor glanced at her with eyes that just screamed 'I'm so done right now', and then looked at me with normal eyes.

"The Aeons are told to be the first race in the galaxy to evolve. They lived on their own planet a long, long, long time ago: Xaava-Dal. They dedicated their lives to help other species of aliens throughout the galaxy, and were described as kind, selfless and intelligent. But when their planet was destroyed by another race out of spite, evil and jealousy, they were granted great power and the task to protect and look over all life in the universe." Traximus nodded and smiled at me.

"They are told to exist in everything alive: trees, flowers, animals, and even various kinds of aliens. They look over and protect everyone. They're there for everyone that needs them." He frowned and looked down again. "But it's said that their powers have grown weaker over the centuries, as fewer aliens are believing in them these days." Jhanna rolled her eyes and sat up again, glaring softly at him. She was too tired to even give a proper glare right now.

"Yeah, or they don't exist and that's why life has gotten so much worse over those centuries. People are waking up and realizing that they're not real and are taking things into their own hands. You can't deny that live has gotten worse for a lot of different species, Traximus." Her words made me remember something. The Chief had told me that reptiles had a hard time getting by these days and could barely get a good job or have a home. What did she think of reptiles? Her words from that first day entered my brain.

 _"Nice try, you dirty little freak! But I'm not stupid, and I've dealt with your kind before!"_

 _"Oh, you want a piece of me? Well, why don't you come and get it, you little freak!"_

Maybe she hadn't gone after me just because I was a thief. Maybe she had thought I was a thieving reptile? I bit my lip, thinking about whether I should say something or just let it go. Jhanna obviously didn't have a problem with me now and seemed to think of me as her friend. So what did it matter now? Still, there was this itching curiosity I couldn't ignore. I was about to ask her when I saw that Starlee had still not come inside. I walked out of the door, looked out, and saw that she was sitting on a branch that was so thick she could sit there with her knees drawn up to her chest and arms folded on top of them and still not worry about falling down. Even though she was hiding most of her face by covering half of it with her arms, I could see she was crying. I could tell by the fact that she was shaking due to her sobbing.

I felt so bad for her, but what could I do? Starlee and I had only known each other for a few days. I was still just barely more than a stranger to her. So I turned to Jhanna, who was lying down on the bed again and trying to sleep. I bit my lip, thought for a second, then walked over to her and sat down beside her.

"Uh, Jhanna? I think Starlee's pretty upset over what you said at dinner. Maybe you should talk to her." She looked up at me, clearly too tired to care about anything I had to say at the moment, and glared.

"Why should I? I've done nothing wrong. The Federation is a terrible group of people, and she needs to face that. It's the truth, and she needs to learn to deal with it." She tried to lie down again, but I grabbed her shoulder and yanked her up again. She was starting to tick me off a little.

"But she's your sister! And she really needs someone to lean on right now. You told her that it was your job to look out for her-" She glared, annoyed, at me, shook my hand off of her shoulder and snapped as quietly as she could at me, since Traximus and The Professor had either fallen asleep or gone into standby, respectively.

"Well, why don't you go and talk to her, then? Since you care so much." I opened my mouth to object, but she raised her hand in a 'stop' motion and talked in a slightly condescending tone. "Look, I've tried to talk to her for years. I tried to warn her about our father and about what he did to Moriah, and she has never listened. She's too nice and caring to think of anyone as bad, or that anyone can be evil. She needs to grow up and realize that the world isn't like her perfect little utopia. Now, let me sleep!" She almost slammed herself down on the bed and closed her eyes. I shook my head at her and felt annoyance with her bubbling up in my gut. Her sister was upset and needed support, and she wasn't there to give it, and was all too eager to hand that responsibility over to someone who barely knew her. From how Jhanna had talked at the fire, and now about Starlee, it seemed like she had some sort of resentment towards her sister and how she had been raised. As if it was Starlee's fault for being sheltered and manipulated by her father. Besides, she was just a kid. She was incredibly intelligent, but she had very little experience with people or with the world in general, so of course she didn't see the world the same way Jhanna did. There was no need to be so hard on her.

I sighed, made up my mind, and walked out. Starlee hadn't moved an inch from where she was sitting, but she seemed to have stopped crying. Or, at least she'd stopped sobbing- it looked like she had a few tears running down her cheeks. I climbed the fence around the porch and walked over to her, sitting down beside her.

"Hey." She looked up at me, jumping in surprise at my sudden appearance, then sighed and looked down again.

"Hey." I was about to place my hand on her back or wrap an arm around her shoulder, but decided against it and just shuffled a little closer to her.

"How're you doing, Star?" She sighed again and wiped her eyes against her knees.

"I'm fine." She spoke in a weak, slightly raspy and cracked voice, which in and of itself spoke loudly of the fact that she had been crying. I shook my head and gently pushed some hair out of her face, formerly plastered to her flesh by residual tears.

"No, you're not fine. You're obviously upset. Now, I know we haven't known each other for very long, but I hope you know that I'm your friend and I want to help you." She looked up at me with half-closed eyes and a slightly raised eyebrow. But there was something bitter in her eyes that slowly made its way into her facial expression as well.

"You mean like how Jhanna wanted to 'help' me by telling me the truth back there? Or how Moriah 'helped' by not wanting to tell me anything she knew? Or how my father wanted to 'help' me by keeping me in the dark for all these years?" I narrowed my eyes at her and leaned away from her a little. She sounded so bitter and angry, and it was so uncommon for her that it felt like I was talking to a completely different person. And even she seemed to realize that, as her facial expression softened and she sighed. She turned away, moved her knees away from her chest and sat with her feet dangling over the edge of the branch, resting her face in her hands and elbows on her knees.

"Sorry." She muttered, staring straight off into the woods. I bit my lip, wracking my brain for something good to say. On the one hand I wanted to comfort her, but I didn't want to lie to her. I mean, I couldn't say Jhanna didn't mean to be so unkind, 'cause it seemed like she did. What would Mikey do? He was so much better at comforting and reading others on an emotional level. Even Leo had his big brother instincts- he always knew just what to say in order to help us feel better when we were kids. And that still remained to this day. Well, at least for the others. I frowned to myself, then turned back to Starlee as she stared glumly off into space. I took a deep breath.

"Look, Starlee." She looked up at me. "I-I know this is probably really hard, what you're going through right now. And I can't even imagine what it must be like to have your world thrown off-balance like that. But don't let that break you. You have a choice; you don't have to go back if you don't want to. You can do what you want now- your father and Moriah aren't here to tell you what to do anymore." She sighed and glanced up at me.

"Like what? I'm a minor; I can't just land on a planet without someone with me. And it's not like I can get a job anywhere. Sure, I'm smart, but who's gonna hire a girl with no social skills or experience about how anything works? And oh, that's right, I'm part of the Federation! And it seems that the entire galaxy hates us." I bit the inside of my lower lip, thinking for a second, and swallowed before talking.

"Well, yeah, but Jhanna is here, right? She can help you start over." She glared at me, unimpressed. She lifted her head from her hands and looked me straight in the eyes.

"Jhanna? She hates me. She thinks I'm nothing but a stupid kid and keeps talking to me like I don't understand anything. She acts like she knows better, just because she grew up 'the rough way', as she puts it. She never listens, she doesn't take me seriously and she treats me like a baby. She-" the energy she had put into her little tirade suddenly vanished and she sighed heavily, putting her chin back in her hands. "She just doesn't understand."

Deja vu, am I right? I recognised this all too well. This was how Mikey talked to us a lot of the time. Like the time he got, um, 'shellacne', and he talked about how we didn't take him seriously. I also recognised it from the times I would be stuck with fixing the toaster or a video game instead of working on the really important stuff or the things I wanted to do. Only for Starlee, it seemed a little worse than for both me and Mikey combined. Just imagine having all that intelligence she seemed to have but no one who wanted to take her seriously or let her do things. Not even trust her with the truth of her own people. Talk about feeling useless and unimportant. Or at least, so I assume. Even my brothers and father hadn't been that nasty or cruel to me.

I gently and hesitantly placed my hand on her back. "Starlee, I get it. It's hard to not have people listen to you or take you seriously. I know, believe me, I do. But you have your sister, and she cares for you. Yes, she's a little rough around the edges and doesn't seem to read emotions very well, but she does care about you. And you can't throw that love and care away because you had it rough over one fight. It might seem bad now, but it'll get better. I promise." She glanced up at me with slight annoyance on her face.

"Easy for you to say, Donnie. You have three amazing, wonderful, loving brothers and a father that took care of all four of you even though he had no earthly reason to do that. They love you and they show it through how much they're willing to do for you. How could you possibly understand how it feels to have no one that really cares about you?" I was so thrown off I almost felt myself slipping backwards and off the branch. My brothers, caring and loving? I almost felt like laughing. And Master Splinter had practically ignored me for months whenever I tried to get help from him.

In fact, the more I thought about it, I hadn't really missed my family as much as I thought I did, or I had at first. I mean, I missed my brothers, yes, but whenever I tried to think of my brothers or something we had done together, it would only last for a few minutes before I would remember how they had treated me and I would become bitter and resentful for a short while, before I started thinking about something else. Even towards my father, though not as much. They had wronged me and even though they had felt bad about it, it still didn't excuse how they had treated me.

I sighed and moved my hand from Starlee's back to her shoulders. It felt a little weird when I saw that my hand covered both of her shoulders, no problem. I gently placed my fingers around her right shoulder.

"Um, not really. In fact, they've not been very brotherly or shown that much love for me the last few months back home." Her face went from gloomy and a little bitter to surprised and confused.

"What? B-but you said..." I sighed heavily. It felt bad to say bad things about my brothers behind their backs. But they had done so much worse to me, so what would it matter? Besides, it's not like they could hear me. And I felt I needed to vent a little.

"It's true. The last few months before I was transported to D'hoonib, the only thing we really did was fight. My brothers would take me for granted, insult me, tease me, ignore me completely or- when I tried to stand up for myself- they would just shoot me down. And when I talked to my father about it, he would tell me that I had to handle it myself." I lifted my finger and put on my best Master Splinter impression- if having Japanese as a first language was good for anything right now, it was that I could imitate my father's accent rather flawlessly.

"Donatello, if you have problems with your communication with your brothers, then you need to take it up with them. If they do not know how you feel, how can you expect them to understand? And if they do not listen to you or try to be nasty when you are trying to talk to them, do not expect me to come and help you with your malicious brothers. That is all on you, my beloved son." I let out a disgusted 'urgh' at that and just folded my arms over my chest. Okay, I may have exaggerated a little, but still. He had thrown me off into the deep end of the pool and expected me to be able to swim without any help or instructions.

I woke up from my anger when I felt Starlee's hand on my arm. "So, you didn't have a good relationship? You didn't get along?" Now, I know what you're gonna say; that I should say that yes, we fought and argued and got on each others' nerves all the time, but we still loved each other. That I still cared for them no matter how badly they treated me. But I was sick of always having to stick up for them. I was sick of always talking well about them. Now that I had started, I didn't want to stop.

"No, we don't. I gave them all I could with everything I had. I fixed the things they broke, I made weapons and gadgets to help on our missions to save our city and planet. I tended to their injuries, healed their wounds and how did they thank me? They didn't! They just gave me more to do- no sympathy, no second thoughts, and no thought for the fact that I might have needed or wanted something for myself. Like, oh, I don't know, rest! They..." I stopped and searched for the right word. Then another sentence filled my head.

 _'No Turtle Left Behind, That's our Rule!'_

I growled and hit my clenched fist against the branch we were sitting on. "They betrayed me!" I wasn't usually one to get angry, but now when anger was burning in my chest, it was hard to calm down. I felt my hand hurt after hitting it against the tree, but my brain couldn't process it. I was burning with anger, and for a second I had almost forgotten about Starlee by my side. But then I felt something soft on my shoulder and arm, and when I looked down I saw Starlee. She had leaned her head against my shoulder and wrapped her arms around my arm, gently nuzzling my shoulder with her cheek.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled into my arm and hugged me a little tighter.

It was a very sudden and unexpected move on her part, but I still appreciated it. I leaned my head against her head and my cheek landed in her soft hair. It was pretty comforting to have someone to talk to who didn't judge out loud or say anything at all. Someone who just offered an open ear. I placed my arm around Starlee and hugged her a little awkwardly, but she didn't seem to notice.

"Thanks, Starlee." She smiled and looked up at me.

"Do you feel better?" I nodded.

"Yeah. And you?" She nodded too and gently let go of my arm, but still leaned into my embrace. We sat there for a while and it looked like Starlee was getting more and more tired. She almost slept on my arm and shoulder. I smiled and shook my head at her, gathering her up in my arms.

"Come on, Star. Let's go to bed." She yawned and leaned her head against my chest. But when I had climbed over the fence of the porch and started to walk towards the door to the hut, she had woken up enough to walk on her own feet. Before she walked into the hut, she looked up at me, rubbing her eyes tiredly.

"Donnie?" I hmm'ed in response and gently kept an arm around her shoulder, in case she fell asleep on her feet and fell to the floor. She looked at me, but was so tired she actually rested most of her weight on my chest. "I know we haven't known each other very long and all, but..." She stopped for a second to yawn. "But I wish you were my big brother." My eyes widened and I had no idea how to respond. I chose to just smile and lead her inside.

"You're just talking in your sleep, Starlee. You don't know what you're saying." She didn't protest or say anything, just yawned, close to nodding off. I walked her up to the bed beside Jhanna and helped her lie down on. She still had her goggles on, so I gently removed them so she would be comfortable. But when I looked at her gear and her boots, I decided to leave them on. The thought of taking off any articles of clothing was enough to make me blush, so I left it all on. Besides, she didn't seem to be bothered by it, so why bother?

I walked over to the bed closest to the window, lied down and rested my head on the surprisingly soft pillows and closed my eyes. Sleep came pretty easily afterwards.

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 **A/N: Aw, sweet and caring moments between the characters. Always nice to read and/or write. I for one am pretty glad with how I have written Starlee and Jhanna, that they have a conflict between each other like sisters since they have grown up very differently. It's so nice for good interactions between the two. And to have Donnie be supportive yet also be supported. Really sweet.**

 **Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	40. Chapter 39, Somewhere Out There

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: New chapter time! And I think I have a nice moving flow right now, as far as updates go. Don't expect it to hold, though, since my school schedule will change in a few weeks, as I'm taking more classes. So, while I write this, I got some inspiration from the song God Help the Outcasts and Somewhere Out There. You might not see it, but still. I recommend listening to the songs, they're beautiful.**

 **Not much happening this time, but don't worry, I have a feeling you'll really like the next chapter.**

 **But for now, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 39, Somewhere Out There

I don't know what woke me up, but after only a few hours of sleep, I found myself being jostled back to consciousness. My best guess was the moonlight that shone through the window and directly onto my face. But wait, why would that only be waking me now? No, I think it had more to do with the sudden vocalizations of various wildlife on the forest floor, similar to that of frogs and crickets, that I definitely hadn't heard before falling asleep. Perhaps the wildlife here didn't follow the same nocturnal schedule as the creatures on Earth did- maybe the nocturnal animals here were up and active only much later in the night.

Even though I had been exhausted only hours earlier, I found myself surprisingly well rested. Not to the point where I wanted to get up and start the day, but still enough to not be able to fall back asleep.

I sat up in my bed, the thin blanket pooling my lap, and looked out the window. The full moon was shining right through the window and what little I could see of the forest was cloaked in blindingly bright light that made my eyes sore until they finally adjusted. Adjusted enough for me to see past the veil of light and note that any view of the forest beyond the hut was mostly blocked by huge branches.

Realizing I wasn't gonna go back to sleep anytime soon, I stood up and walked out the door, up to the fence around the hut, rested my elbows on the railing and looked out over the woods. There was a nice, soothing silence in the woods and it was very relaxing. But the silence and the fact that everyone else was asleep right now really made me feel more lonely than I'd been for the last three months.

Yes, I had made friends with some of the strange new beings I had come to know and care about to a small extent, like the Professor, Jhanna, Traximus and Starlee. Even Mona Lisa, which felt really weird to think about, since she hadn't been very friendly. But even with all the people around me, and despite how nice, friendly and caring they had been, I still felt lonely. Here I was, a complete stranger in a new world I had only ever dreamed of getting to see. And I had no idea what to make of it all. Everybody around me talked about things or people or other aliens that seemed like common knowledge, yet I had no idea what or who it was. Like the Aeons or what the Federation really was. And yet these new friends of mine looked to me for answers and instruction.

I had no one to talk to, nothing familiar that could calm me and help me stay on the right path, no one who really understood how it felt like right now, being away from your home, with everything you know and love so far away from you. Well, except maybe Starlee, but still, I don't think she would understand me since she didn't go through the exact same thing that I did. And she still had her sister, and even though there was some conflict between them, it was still something familiar. Something she knew, something she loved. I had nothing.

Despite what I had said to Starlee, and despite the anger and bitterness that still came whenever I thought of my family, I can't deny there have been plenty of times when I missed at least one of them, wishing they were here. I missed Mikey's humor and optimism, Leo's determination and bravery and Raph's drive and passion. Any one of them could really help me right now.

I sighed and looked up at the starry night sky, the moon shining down on me like a huge, pale streetlamp. The thought of the Aeons came back to my head, and I started to wonder if maybe... they were real? I mean, in space nothing was impossible, right? Perhaps even beings with great power were out there, looking down on us little people, protecting and caring for us? Or was that something that just couldn't be real? What were this large universe's limits? there, looking down on us little people, protecting and caring for us? Or was that something that just couldn't be real? Would it hurt to try?

 _"They are told to exist in everything alive: trees, flowers, animals, and even various kinds species. They look over and protect everyone. They're there for everyone that needs them."_ I sighed again and looked up at the sky again.

"Okay, Great Aeons, I have no idea if you can actually hear me, or if you're actually real and I might just be talking to myself here, but I need some support. A big task has been placed on my shoulders. Like, a _really_ big task, and I'm not so sure I can pull it off. Yes, I know my friends are here and they want to help me, but I still don't know how we're gonna manage to do this.

"It's not that I don't have faith in my friends, but I don't see how they can look to me for leadership during a dangerous mission, with the very real possibility of all of us dying, and believe in me to pull it off. I don't know if I can handle this. I need someone to guide me, to show me how to lead these people and handle all of this responsibility. So please, if you are real and you want to help, I ask you with all the humility and honesty in my heart, help me and my friends to save my world." I hadn't expected anyone to answer me, but the silence that followed after I had finished my prayer just made me feel more alone and abandoned than I had earlier. I sighed and rested my chin in my hand, looking down at the ground below me for a second before looking back up at the moon.

I know it was silly, but I almost wanted to believe to some extent that the people of Earth could see this moon from where they were. Maybe my brothers and I looked at the same moon at the same time? Okay, probably not, but still. I wanted to believe it was true, but I also knew it was impossible. My brothers and I were lightyears away from each other and nothing about this starry night sky was similar to the one back on Earth. Still, it didn't make it easy to face that fact. Despite how I still felt about them, I'd give anything to hear Leo bark out orders or Raph insult me because I'm stupid or was overthinking, or even have Mikey throw a water balloon at my face, if not only for a small feeling of something familiar.

"Father... I need your guidance right now. I don't know how to do this. I need you. Why are you never there for me? Why do you always insist on me figuring things out by myself?" I already knew, or at least I had a theory; Splinter didn't know how to help me. When I was little, I had been relatively easy to handle and could take care of myself rather well for a kid. So when I grew up and gained more and more knowledge, he didn't really know how to handle me, since he never really had to earlier. I didn't do much other than play around with my toys without getting into that much trouble or fighting with my brothers. And when I started to learn more than Splinter had expected, he had let me do more advanced work and instead focused on teaching my brothers what they needed to know. I got very little attention, and whenever I asked for help, he would not always know what to do.

Look, I'm not saying Splinter is a bad father- far from it. He's done more than anyone would expect from a man that had his life turned around the way his was and then ended up with four mutant kids on his neck. He's done everything in his power to take care of us- all I'm saying is that I don't think he knows me as well as he might think he does, seeing how he very rarely had to take care of me since I didn't always reach out to him or ask for his help. So when I did, he didn't always know what to do. Now, sometimes he did know, like with that psychic monkey last year, or when he tried to give me hints about not trying out Metalhead as a video game, or to not train the Pulverizer. He had good advice, but if he knew me, he would have known I hated the way he always used cryptic messages to try and bring out a lesson or a message.

I sighed and rubbed my face with my hand, trying to sort out my thoughts. Did I miss my family or not? I started to get really confused about what I really felt, and I really should know whether I missed my own family or not. It almost felt like I had to miss them, or else I would be a terrible person. But I had very few reasons to feel like that. Yes, I had behaved very immaturely that day we were separated, I will be the first person to admit that. But that did _not_ justify their actions in the slightest. So why should I?

Still, they were my family. My brothers were my literal flesh and blood, and my father had always been there, taking care of us. I couldn't dismiss everything we had been through like it hadn't happened. Like we had never been like a family should be. All the adventures, the games we had played, the years of growing up together. All flushed down the toilet.

I growled and slammed my forehead onto the railing I was resting on. Why did this have to be so hard? Why did this have to happen? If that fight three months ago hadn't gone the way it had, this wouldn't have happened. There would be no Triceratons, no Black Hole Generator and no crazy, impossible mission I had to complete by myself for the first time without brothers or Father there for support. Why, why did this all have to happen? Why couldn't everything just be like it had always been? The way I was familiar with?

I started to feel tired again and stood up, about to go back to sleep inside, but my eyes fell on the moon for one last time. "Please, I need guidance. I need help. I can't do this on my own." I turned around and walked back into the hut, still with that gnawing feeling in my stomach that something wasn't right. But it was probably nothing.

* * *

(Raph's P.O.V)

It was nighttime by the time we arrived at April's farmhouse, and everyone was practically asleep on their feet because of the long journey and everything that had happened. Well, except for Leo, of course, who was still out cold and hadn't shown any signs of waking up or physically improving. His face wasn't a grimace of pain anymore, but that was only a teeny, tiny bit better than grimacing in pain. Splinter had spent the entire trip trying his best to help Leo with his wounds and to safely remove the tantō from his side without causing him any more pain. Eventually had managed to do just that, but from what I could hear from the driver's seat, it hadn't been very easy. Mikey had even questioned if it was such a good idea to try and help Leo in a moving car and asked if it wouldn't be best to stop the car and wait while Splinter worked. But Splinter had just said it couldn't wait.

"If we do not remove this as quickly as possible, it could hurt him even more than it already has. It is not a risk worth taking, my son. It has to be done now." He had also taken a good look at Leo's leg and kneecap, and had eventually come to the conclusion that it was at the very least broken. Or, at best, that it just jumped out of joint and it would be easy to put back in its place. But after a closer look both he and April decided that it was more than likely broken, and the muscles and joints looked pretty bad. When Leo got better he would have hard time walking for at least a few weeks.

If he woke up, that is. I shook my head and gripped the wheel tighter. I couldn't think like that. It was just a wounded leg and a minor stab wound. No big deal. Leo could walk it off just fine. He had to. I felt tears threatening to fall, and now that the adrenaline had worn off, the stress, pain and fear finally managed to catch up with me.

' _I've already lost Donnie. I can't lose Leo too. I can't._ '

So when we finally pulled up at April's family's farmhouse, I finally let myself relax ever so slightly. It was very short-lived, though, as I quickly remembered Leo and both Mikey and I helped carry him outside while April ran up to the front door, dug out the key from under a loose plank in the porch, unlocked the door and held it open for us so we could carry him inside. From the corner of my eye I saw Splinter, Casey and April grab the bags from the Shellraiser and carry them inside. But that was all I saw before Mikey and I got inside and went through the first door on the right, leading into a living room, and placed Leo on the couch. He moaned in pain, but that was all he did, and he didn't look like he was waking up. Mikey knelt down beside him, placed on hand on Leo's shoulder and the other one on his arm, before he leaned down and gently nuzzled his cheek against Leo's face. I could see he was fighting back tears. I placed my hand on his shoulder and patted gently.

"Don't worry, bro. Leo's strong, he'll pull through. He worries too much about us to just leave, you know that." I tried to lighten the mood a little, but I could see Mikey wasn't exactly in the mood to be cheered up. He leaned down and placed his face against the crook of Leo's neck and a few small tears fell down his cheeks. I felt my heart clench and I knelt down beside him, placing my arm around his shoulders to try and comfort him.

"It's gonna be okay, Mikey. It's gonna be okay." He looked up at me and wiped the tears from his cheeks. He smiled weakly and opened his mouth to say something, but before he could we both heard a loud slam against the wooden floor and we looked up. Casey had dropped mine and Leo's bags on the floor and sat down in a chair close to a big fireplace.

"Ugh, I'm out like a light." He exclaimed tiredly and rested his head against the back of the chair, eyes closed. April came in close after with Splinter in tow and dropped her own bag on the floor, while gently putting Mikey's cooler down before she stretched out her back and arms.

"Yeah, me too. I'm SO ready to go to bed." And that was true for all of us. We all looked weary, beaten and like we had been through Hell, which wasn't exactly a stretch. Master Splinter put the rest of the bags down, except for the first aid bag Donnie always kept in the Shellraiser, and walked over to Leo. He knelt down beside him and gently stroked his forehead with sadness in his eyes, and I could swear I saw a few tears run through his fur.

"You should all go to bed, my children. It is late, and you are all very tired." Mikey shook his head and tried to look determined, despite the fact that he was yawning like crazy by now.

"N-No, Sensei, we can help. L-Leo needs us now." Splinter smiled at him, placed his hand on Mikey's head and leaned down to his level.

"I appreciate your intentions, Michelangelo. But I doubt that you would be able to help much now, seeing how much has happened and how tired you are. Now, off to bed with you. All of you." He looked at me when he said 'all of you', as if he expected me to put up a fight about it. But, one, I was too tired to argue right now and I felt more than willing to just go to bed, and two, as much as I wanted to stay by Leo's side and help him, I knew I wouldn't be much help, even if I wasn't dead tired.

April led us upstairs and showed us three bedrooms, one that had been April's parents' room, one that had been April's, and one that seemed to be a guest room of sorts. April said we could have whatever room we liked before she went into her old room, her bag slung over her shoulder. Her ponytail was a disheveled mess and she had dark circles under her eyes. We all knew better than to talk to her right now or ask questions about who would sleep with who. Mikey immediately called dibs on the big bedroom, just a second earlier than Casey did, and they both started to argue about who said what first. Normally I would try to break them up, but right now I was too tired to care, so I just took my bag with very few things in it and walked into the guest room, closing the door behind me.

It was a pretty small room and there was only a bed, a small wooden dresser and a bedside table with a lamp on it. There was also a large window with thin curtains that surely wouldn't block out too much sunlight. I dropped my bag on the floor, placed Donnie's journal in the bottom of said bag and went over to the window, and was about to draw the curtains when I saw that it had started to snow again, my eyes catching on the blinding full moon on the dark, cloudy sky. My eyes were glued to it and my thoughts flew to Donnie. Why was he taking so long? Why hadn't he come back yet? Or at least tried to send us a message? It had been three months. Didn't he care enough to at least try to contact us?

I shook my head and smacked myself on the cheek. Of course he cared! Donnie cared about everyone, even some people that probably didn't deserve it in any way. He was probably just incapable of contacting us because of something to do with technology or something like that. I mean, yeah, Donnie's great with technology, but you can't expect him to be able to understand alien technology just like that. Right?

I sighed and leaned my forehead against the glass, gazing up at the sky. "I know you're out there somewhere, Donnie. I'm not giving up on you. I'll wait. But please, please hurry back home. We need you. I-" I felt the words choke in my throat and I had to clear it so I could finish the sentence. "-I need you. Please, come home to us." I turned around and lay down on my bed, falling asleep without even crawling under the covers.

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 **A/N: *Sniff* Why do I like writing these sorts of things full of feels? And why did it take me so long to write down what I wanted to write; how Donnie was feeling conflicted and unsure about himself and the mission, and his feelings towards his family? Ugh, anyway it's done! And I personally like this chapter, even if the part where we finally get to check in on what happens back at Earth is pretty short.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	41. Chapter 40, Nothing More Than a Freak

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: New chapter and this time it's a change of pace. Action and fight scenes, which I am horrible at writing! Yay... Ugh, why do I do this to myself? Uh, anyway, I really wanted to write this 'cause this and next chapter (possibly the one after that too) will really drive home the doubt and self-confidence issues Donnie's had for some time. So that'll be fun to write too.**

 **I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 40, Nothing More Than a Terrapin Freak

"AAAH!"

Loud screams and explosions woke me up with a jerk. I sat up straight in my bed, looking around in shock, and tried to find the source, thinking it was either Starlee or Jhanna who had screamed. But when I saw that everyone else in the small room looked just as dazed and confused as me, I dismissed the idea. Jhanna had grabbed the sword in her belt, looking around the room, her entire body tense, ready to fight, as though she had been through things like this before.

"What was that? What's happening?" While Starlee looked out the window by her bed and tried to locate some clue as to what was going on, I grabbed my staff that was leaning against the wall close to my bed and ran out of the house. When I looked down at the ground, my face paled and my eyes widened. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

On the ground, about two dozen Salamandarians (and those were only the ones I could see) were running frantically with weapons in their hands or running to safety with the children. And stomping through the small village were about five Triceratons with enormous guns in their hands, shooting at everything they could see; houses, tents, fireplaces and at the Salamandarians themselves. I gasped in terror and turned to the others, who had started to gear up and grab their weapons.

"Guys, we're under attack! It's the Tricerato- AH!" I barely managed to finish the sentence before I dodged before a laser bullet that ended up hitting the fence, causing a minor explosion and sending wooden splinters all over the place. I landed on the porch with a a thud, a small burn on my arm- the bullet from the Triceraton gun had set some wooden splinters on fire when it hit the fence, and one of them had hit my forearm, leaving a small red mark. I breathed heavily through my clenched teeth in pain and clutched at my arm for a few seconds before I climbed back on my feet, forcing myself to forget the minor injury- Raph would scoff at me if he saw me freaking out over such a small wound- just in time for Jhanna and the Professor to come running out.

"Where? Where are the Triceratons?" The Professor looked from side to side, and just then another laser bullet came soaring in our direction and hit a branch just over our heads, then came crashing down at us. Jhanna shoved the Professor and jumped out of the way, and I leaped in the other direction as the branch hit the porch with a loud crash. Starlee came running out with Traximus, who had his axe at the ready. Jhanna stood up from where she and the Professor had landed and hurried to her sister's side.

"I'll take a wild guess and say they're down on the ground." She said dryly and handed her small laser gun to Starlee. "Here, in case you get attacked. Let's go!" She took up her sword, holding it deftly so the wicked blade glinted hungrily in the first rays of morning sunlight, and headed towards the ladder. But I didn't have the patience to take that ladder again, so I flew past Jhanna, jumped down onto the ladder that was glued to the tree and started to climb down, taking two steps at a time.

I barely hit the ground before I was hit over the head with the insane cacophony coming from all around me. Everyone was screaming in terror, women with children in their arms ran, trying to find shelter, and both older and younger Salamandarians were trying to hold back the Triceratons, but most of them just got smacked aside without much effort from the enemy. I saw Chief Patowan running around- as much as his older body could run- and calling for Mona Lisa with fear and worry on his face before Samu came running up him and practically had to drag him to safety. Still, it didn't stop him from fighting back and calling out for his granddaughter. One of the Triceratons, one I recognised from my time in prison as Zog, yelled out orders, a huge axe in his hand.

"Find those brats! Order from Prime Leader Zanramon! Find the escaped prisoners and take them back to the ship!" I bit my lip. So that was why they were here - to find us. I gripped the staff tighter in my hands. Well, I wasn't going back to that prison, and I wasn't going to let these freaks terrorize these innocent lizards for no good reason. Jhanna jumped down from the ladder at my side and the others were right behind her. Starlee stayed behind Traximus, but gripped the gun in her hand tightly, if not a little awkwardly. Jhanna pushed the Professor behind her and held her sword at the ready, and Traximus stood ready with his axe. Why didn't they go? We were under attack- why didn't somebody say anything? Why didn't anyone give orders?!

"We have to get rid of these guys before they wreck the whole forest! What do we do, Donnie?" Then it clicked. They were all waiting for orders. From me. I gulped. Yikes. Orders, from me? No, no, I can't! Please, anybody but me, I'm not-

I mentally smacked myself across the face and shook my head to snap out of it. Stop, stop right there, Donnie! You can do this. You have to. These guys need us and we have to do something to help after all they did for us. Well, mostly the Chief, but still. You have to at least try. I took a deep breath, looked out over the fight around us and then looked back at the others.

"We have to distract them- it's us they're after. Traximus, you, Jhanna and I will try to fight off as many of these guys as we can, while the Professor and Starlee get the non-fighters someplace safe." They all nodded, and I leaned in closer to the Professor so only he could hear me. "Oh, and keep an eye on Starlee. She's not exactly a well-trained fighter, you know." He nodded with a big robot smile and gave me a thumbs up.

"Right-o, Donatello." And so with that we all ran off in different directions. Jhanna, Traximus and I dove straight into the fight in the middle of the village, while Starlee and the Professor ran up to the panicking Salamandarians and tried to lead them away from the village. I heard Starlee yell at them to follow her and the Professor, but that was all I could focus on as far as they were concerned.

* * *

(Starlee's P.O.V)

"Let's go! This way, hurry!" Mew led the Salamandarians deeper into the woods, while the Professor and I covered their backs and looked out for Triceratons that could try and attack them. I fingered the gun in my hand. It felt so weird; I had never held a weapon in my life, let alone used one, and now I was expected to fire it at Triceratons like it was nothing. I gulped and looked out over the glen as more Salamandarians came running towards us, trying to escape. The Professor had turned his hands into guns and looked from side to side, ready to shoot should he have to. For the happy-go-lucky peacekeeper he usually was, the Professor could be surprisingly yet awesomely tough when times called for it.

"Professor, how do you think the others are doing?" He looked at me and smiled reassuringly.

"Ah, I wouldn't worry, Starlee. Your sister, Traximus and Donatello have already proven themselves to be good warriors. They can handle themselves, don't you worry." I bit the inside of my cheek and looked away. I knew he had confidence in the others, but I still couldn't help but feel he was just saying that to calm me so I wouldn't worry. And I couldn't help but have the strangest feeling that something really bad was going to happen.

Something big caught my eye and I turned to the left. Just behind the Professor came a Triceraton with a raised gun in his hand, ready to shoot. The Professor didn't seem to notice, as he just kept helping the passing mothers and their children. I remembered the gun in my hand, and suddenly, as if I already knew how to do it, I placed my finger on the trigger, aimed and fired in less than a second. It all happened so fast, I barely had time to think about what had just happened. The Triceraton was hit in the eye and fell to the ground, howling in pain.

The Professor looked up from the Salamandarians he was helping, at the Triceraton down on the ground, and then at me, smiling and giving me a thumbs up. "Thank you, Starlee. Most excellent aim!" I smiled at him and waved slightly.

"No problem." I looked down at the gun in my hand and, against all I should be feeling right now and every rational thought in my head, I started smiling. This started to feel more and more exciting than scary. It was new and crazy, and gave me a sick thrill. I raised the gun again, ready to fire at any threat I could see coming towards us. I guess you could say it was just the adrenaline, but still, I felt more alive in this fight than I had for all my years in the computer room on D'hoonib.

Samu came running next with the Chief's arm in a tight grip- the Chief seemed to be struggling to get back to the village. "I think those are the last civilians! Now go, I have to go and help the others fight! Hurry!" He was about to turn around and run back to the fight when Chief Patowan grabbed his arm again.

"Please, I have to go back! Mona Lisa is still there! I have to protect her!" Samu looked down at the Chief, seemingly torn about what to say next. I placed my hand on his shoulder and tried to smile my usual smile.

"Don't worry, Chief. I'm sure she's fine. Maybe she's already here with the rest of the others? Besides, she's been around Triceratons for years in that prison. I'm sure she knows how to handle them should she have to." Chief didn't look entirely convinced and looked back at the village. The Professor grabbed his arm and gently started to lead him further down the path after the others.

"Don't worry, Chief Patowan. Jhanna and Donatello are both excellent fighters and Traximus is a Triceraton. There is absolutely nothing to worry about; they've got everything under control."

* * *

(Donnie's P.O.V)

Had I known how this battle was gonna end, I might have gone in with a better plan. Maybe I would have used my brain more and actually come up with a good strategy to avoid a worst-case scenario. But sadly, I do not have eyes that can see the future. And because I didn't have that much before rushing in -yeah imagine that, me not thinking before doing- I'll have to suffer the consequences for it.

The leader Triceraton- Zog- had just grabbed a young Salamandarian girl by the arm, ready to throw her into a tree, so I jumped up on his shoulders and smacked him across the back of the head. It clearly didn't hurt him- I don't even think he flinched or jumped in surprise- but he obviously felt it and knew I was there and his focus turned to me. But he didn't seem to care much about the hit; he just shrugged me off, making me fall to the ground. He dropped the girl to the ground and she scurried away on her knees before climbing back to her feet, running towards the others that fled the village.

Zog smirked down at me, playfully weighing his axe in his hand. "So, this is the little brat that helped the Prime Leader? Heh, I suppose my people owe you some gratitude, kid. Without you, we might not have found where the Kraang were hiding for at least another thousand nextons." I gritted my teeth and my fists clenched at the grass under me.

'Yes, I am well aware that I screwed up earlier at the prison. Thank you so much for reminding me, Zog, I don't need to hear it one more time.' I thought while biting my tongue to keep myself from saying anything stupid. I had been in space and onboard the ship long enough to learn that a nexton was a term for measuring long periods of time, like a month or a year. And I certainly wouldn't have minded if it had taken them another thousand nextons to find the Kraang. I glared up at Zog, but he just laughed and leaned his weight on his axe, which he had placed on the ground.

"You know, you shouldn't fight us. You know a lot about what the Kraang have been doing to your world and where they hide. Why don't you just give up and ally yourself with us? You can have revenge, too, against the Kraang for trying to take your planet like they took ours." He obviously tried to sound tempting, but I could hear the bitterness in his voice when got to the part about how the Kraang took their planet. I got up on my feet again and raised my staff, ready to fight.

"I would _never_ help you try to destroy my home. And I will _never_ let you get away with it. So help me, if it's the last thing I do, I will make sure that you never get to Earth or the Black Hole Generator." I had really hoped that my words would leave some kind of impact on him. Like, make him realize that I was serious and wasn't playing games. But Zog just snorted and grabbed his axe again.

"Well, then, let's settle this, shall we?" I gripped my staff even tighter and braced myself for a fight. But I barely had time to swing my staff before he grabbed it with ridiculous speed, snatched it out of my hands and threw it aside. And while I was distracted by that, he swung his fist at me and hit me in the chest.

"GAH!" I was sent flying several feet over the ground and then smashed straight into a tree and hit the ground. For the first few seconds I just sat there and tried to grasp what had just happened when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up at Jhanna's concerned face as she looked me over.

"Are you okay, Don?" I nodded and climbed up on my feet, taking deep breaths and nursing my chest from the hit.

"Y-yeah, yeah I'm okay." She handed me my staff, rather forcefully, and gestured to the fight with her head.

"Great! Now, get your head in the game, man! We're losing!" She didn't give me any chance to respond and just ran off again, swinging her sword at one of the other Triceratons like it was nothing. She knew how to handle these guys in a fight, was light on her feet and almost looked like she was dancing around the Triceraton as she dodged his attack, and still managed to get in a few good hits that actually seemed to affect him. I rubbed my chest and groaned in slight pain. That was more than you could say about me.

"No! Leave me alone!" I was jerked out of my thoughts and looked over to the left. Mona Lisa stood with her back against a tree, cowering in terror, her hands raised as if she wanted to both fight back and protect her face. Zog stood in front of her with a raised fist and a big, sadistic grin on his face.

"So, here she is. The one that got away. I have admit, I had expected you to break down and die quite early like the other Salamandarian brats. Oh well, that's not important. You're coming with us!" I gasped and ran towards them, my staff raised and my eyes set on the two. Zog threw his fist down, ready to knock Mona to the ground, just in time for me to get between them and block her with my body, raising my staff defend us both. Mona had her eyes shut tightly and shielded her face with her arms.

A loud snap was heard as my wooden staff broke due to the Triceraton's strength, and the force from the blow managed to knock me down, leaving a few minor cracks in my plastron. Mona shrieked in fear and kneeled down beside me, looking over my injuries quickly. Then she looked up at Zog again. He glared down at me.

"Cursed little brat! Can't you learn to take a hint?" I glared back at him, but placed my hand on Mona's arm.

"Mona, get out of here. Save yourself, find your grandfather and get to safety. Now!" She looked like she wanted to protest, but one look at my face and she could see I was dead-serious, so she got up on her feet and ran. But not away from the fight. In the corner of my eye I saw that she hid herself behind a thick tree, deeper into the woods. She looked at us from her hiding spot, keeping an eye on the fight and what was going on.

Zog drew his axe and tested to edge on his thumb. "You know, I have to give you some credit; you are much braver than you look. Or maybe it's just simple foolishness." I glowered at him, but I had a feeling I didn't look as cocky as I tried to be.

"Leave these people alone, they've done you nothing! It's us you want, don't drag them into this!" Zog just laughed at me, and I lowered my hands, still holding the remaining pieces of my staff. That wasn't the reaction I had expected.

"You really think you're worth the trouble of capturing and be set behind bars? No, the Prime Leader has more important things to worry about than some troublemaking teenager. He simply wanted us to have a little fun with you, before we claim the first piece of the Heart of Darkness."

I threw the pieces of my staff aside and clenched my fists, ready to fight back. "You'll have to go through me first!" He just looked amused, raised his axe and swung at me. I barely had time to jump out of the way before the axe was lodged deeply into the tree trunk. I crouched down on the ground about two feet away from the tree and took a second to silently thank Leo for all those extra painful hours of reflex training he had put us through the last few months on Earth. Finally it seemed like it hadn't been a waste of good time.

However, Zog didn't slow down. He raised his axe again and swung at my head, once again giving me very little time to dodge. I leaned backwards as the swing came, feeling the sharp edge and the wind getting cut by it just inches above my nose. I flipped backwards as yet another swing came and tried to think up a good tactic. This guy was more massive and much stronger than any foe I had met yet, so this wasn't gonna be easy. And somehow I doubted that this guy had a sprained knee or any other weak spot at the moment that I could use to my advantage. And I couldn't keep dodging forever; I had to try to hit and not just dance around him like a ballerina.

He swung his fist this time and hit me right in the face, knocking me to the ground. I heard Jhanna call out my name but she sounded like she was too far away to help me at the moment and I could only guess she had her own problems right now. I felt blood in my mouth and a bruise forming on my jaw. I looked up at him and spat out some of the blood, trying my best to look defiant, despite the fact that I started to realize more and more that I was in way over my head. He smirked down at me.

"Just tell me when you've had enough, kid." I rubbed my jaw and unsteadily got back up on my feet. I clenched my hands and tried to put on a cocky smirk myself.

"I can do this all day." He raised an eyebrow at me and ran forward, ready to attack again. I braced myself, ready to defend myself.

I dodged another punch and tried to deliver a punch to Zog's eye, but he easily smacked me aside like a fly, making me go sprawling in the grass. I got up again and tried to fake him out this time; I acted like I was about to punch him and when he was about to deflect it, I kicked my leg up, trying to kick him in the chin. However, despite that he had almost fallen for the trick, he still managed to catch my bluff and grabbed my leg before it hit him. My eyes widened and I realized that whatever was gonna happen next was gonna hurt. He lifted me up by the leg and swung me up before he threw me back down into the ground. My world went black for a second, and then it started to spin around. He walked up to me and chuckled as I lay there, trying to collect myself.

"Nice try." I groaned and pushed myself up on my feet _again_ and clenched my fists. And, for the first time since the fight started, Zog's look of amusement and enjoyment faded away. The smirk that had been almost glued to his face the whole time was now a small grimace of annoyance and frustration. He growled and narrowed his eyes at me.

"Why are you still standing?!" He facepalmed and massaged the space between his eyes. "Ugh, you're a persistent little bugger, I'll give you that. But that won't save you." I wiped some blood off my chin and glared up at him.

"You don't scare me-!" He growled and roughly shoved me to the ground. My head hit a small rock and I felt my brain spin around in my head for a second. Zog walked up and placed himself over me, looking down with his smirk back on his face.

"Are you scared now?" I looked up at him and whatever cockiness or bravado I had left was drained away from me. He saw that I was scared now and his smirk grew wider. He leaned down closer to my face and taunted me. "Cry for me, terrapin. Cry, cr-" I narrowed my eyes at him, gathered my legs in under him and kicked him in the chest, making him stumble and take a few steps back. He rubbed his hand over the spot where I had kicked him and glared down at me again.

"Ugh, you just don't know when to give up, do you?" He raised his hand and showed off his sharp claws. I couldn't stop the gasp of fear that slipped out and I shrunk back against the ground. Zog growled, leaned down and-

Pain exploded in my face and I yelled in pain as he struck. The pain did fade after a few seconds, but it still hurt and I could feel something wet trail down my face. I opened my eyes and reached up to touch my face. When I looked at my hand I could see the blood trail down my fingers too. I realized what he had done and I felt myself shudder and I was on verge of hyperventilating. But before that could happen, Zog grabbed me by the strap across my chest, lifted me up and slammed me against the trunk of a tree. I grunted in pain, then yelped in fear as he slammed his other hand inches away from my head and leaned his face dangerously close to me.

"I hope you remember this moment the next time you think you'll _ever_ be _anything_ more than weak, pathetic little terrapin freak!" At this point my eyes were as big as dinner plates and I felt my breathing get quicker and quicker. There was no denying it now- I was terrified. I didn't even try to disguise the fact that I was shuddering and whimpering, or that I was feeling like a small baby bunny in this moment. He then yanked me away from the tree and slammed me down into the ground, picked up his axe and- No, no he couldn't! He wouldn't do that, would he?

"No... No, please, don't." I wanted to scream but I couldn't raise my voice- I was too weakened. He lowered at the axe with a yell and for a second I thought he was really gonna cut my leg off, but I instead felt something hard and solid hit my knee, and something crack in the bone; I realized that wasn't the case and that he had hit my kneecap with the handle of the axe and thanked my lucky stars for that. But, that said, it was still agonizing. I did the only thing I could to preserve just a scrap of my dignity at that point, and I kept the scream of pain lodged firmly in my throat, forcing it down until it dissipated into gasps and ragged breathing. I heard him walk away and call on his troop to head back to the ship. I tried to breathe normally but I found it getting harder and harder to do that.

I heard someone else approach me, someone smaller, and kneel beside me. At first I thought it was Starlee or Jhanna, but when I felt the four fingered hands I knew it was Mona Lisa. She gently lay me down on my back instead of on my side and started to look me over. My sight had started to blur and I was exhausted.

"This looks really bad..." I heard her mumble to herself, then she turned to yell over her shoulder. "Help! I need help! Donnie's injured, someone get help!" Then she turned back to me and placed her hand on the side of my face.

"Donnie? Donnie! Can you hear me?" I tried to answer, but I felt myself slipping further and further into a comforting darkness and all I wanted to do was sleep and never wake up. I saw something blue and orange looking down on me. _Mikey_ … _Leo_? I thought rather deliriously. Someone tried to say something to me, but I was gone long before I could begin to process it.

* * *

 **A/N: Wow, that's intense. Seriously, I've been looking forward to writing this for a while, but it's been really hard to get it right and I suck at writing fight scenes. So, yeah, I don't know how this will look to you. But I've wanted to write this for quite some time, and now it's done! Yay! And yes some inspiration came from Zootopia again, bite me. I don't care, I loved the idea.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	42. Chapter 41, You Said You'd Be There

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Hi! Announcement time! I will be going on vacation to Florida this Saturday, and I don't know if I can bring my computer. And even then one of the hotels we'll be staying at doesn't have free WIFI, so I may not update in at least two weeks. So yeah, just so you know.**

 **I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

* * *

Chapter 41, You Said You'd Always Be There

 _The world around me was dark, but other than that I didn't feel, see or hear anything. Well, I felt like I was floating around in space, actually. And for the first time in weeks I felt at peace. There was no pain, fear, worry or insecurity. But even then, a memory was floating around in my head, and was brought to life around me. Somehow I could see it front of me, as if I was watching a movie. It was a memory from when I was a kid, and I could see it all through the eyes of my younger self. Echoes of what must have been my thoughts at the time surrounded me as I was immersed in a living memory._

 _..._

 _I'm only six years old, sitting up in my bed with a flashlight in my hand, reading the new book that Master Splinter had gotten for me while trying to be as as quiet as possible. I know it's late and I know that I should be sleeping by now, since morning training starts in about six hours, but I just can't help it. I'm not tired, not one bit. So I had thought that a bit of reading might help my insomnia- but so far I've been unsuccessful. But it's not like this is anything new. I have quite the history of being up late at night, even though I know I'm not supposed to._

 _A lot of thoughts and questions had been flooding through my head today. Ever since Splinter came home from the junkyard earlier today, and with my earlier conversations with my brothers fresh in my memory, a lot of questions have been plaguing me. Do my brothers think I'm boring? Do they love me? Or do they just put up with me because Splinter brought me along with them?_

 _Does... does Splinter love me? Does Splinter think like my brothers? Am I just here because he feels responsible for all of us? Maybe he hates me just like my brothers do._

 _Suddenly the door opens and my head snaps up from the book and towards the door. Splinter is looking in through the small opening at me, and he sighs and shakes his head tiredly when he sees that I'm still awake and reading at this late hour._

 _"Donatello, you should be sleeping at this hour. It is very late." He walks into the room and up to my bed, pulls the book and flashlight out of my hands and puts them away before turning back to me. He kneels down beside the bed. "Why are you still awake, my son? You know we have training early in the morning." I shrug and look down at the mattress, trying my best to avoid eye contact._

 _"I couldn't sleep. I thought a little reading would help." I refuse to look up at Father, hoping that he won't see that something is on my mind. After all, I've been able to cover it up for a few weeks now, that I have a habit of staying up late at night when I'm supposed to be sleeping. And I try to make it seem that I'm not as troubled as I really am by looking away from him, but of course, he notices anyway._

 _Splinter sees how crestfallen I must look and places his fingers under my chin, making me look up into his eyes. He smiles gently and his eyes are comforting and warm, even though he had clearly been tired and annoyed only a few seconds earlier._

 _"Donatello, I can see that there is something that troubles you. And I hope you know that if you feel bad or just have something on your mind, you can always come to me. Please, my son, what is it?" I look up at him, then down at the mattress, and then back up at Splinter again. I gently pull my face away from his fingers._

 _"It's nothing, Sensei. Really, I'm fine." Splinter shakes his head and places both hands on my shoulders, making it impossible for me to turn away from him. He looks me in the eyes._

 _"Donatello, do you believe that I have not seen the tension between you and your brothers? I may be old, but I'm not blind nor deaf. I can tell something has happened. So please, tell me." I bite my lip and blink to try and get rid of any unwelcome tears that want to get out._

 _"I... I guess I just don't understand why I'm here. I mean, I know you feel responsible for all of us, but I just don't feel like I belong here. I'm so different from the guys and you. I'm not strong or a good ninja, I just have my books and the things I learn. What use will that ever be? And the guys don't even care about me, so why am I here? Why did you take me in with the others? I'm useless." Splinter's eyes widen and his grip on my shoulders tightens. For a second I'm scared he's gonna get angry, but then he pulls me into his arms and hugs me to his chest. I feel his muzzle against the side of my face._

 _"Donatello, you are my son, just as much as your brothers are. And you have to know that I love you. I did not take you boys in because of how useful you would be to me - I did it because I knew you would not be able to take care of yourselves. You were just babies. And I do not care if you aren't my best fighter. I still love you. " He grabs me by the shoulders again and looks down at me with a smile._

 _"And as for you 'not being strong', you are much stronger than you believe. It takes strength to do what you love, even if others don't always seem to approve. And what your brothers may think of wanting to learn and not always playing their games is not important. As long as you are happy with who you are, that is all that matters." I shake my head and look away._

 _"But, Sensei, what's the point of being fine with who you are if nobody else seems to love or care for you? Will I just be lonely for the rest of my life? Lonely and unloved?" Master Splinter shakes his head, then his eyes fall on my book that he had placed on my bedside table. He looks at the title, smiles and then opens the book. He flips through pages and then places the open book in my lap._

 _"Donatello, look at this." I look and see he's opened the book to a chapter about stars. "Love is like the stars. You can't always see it, you can't touch it, and sometimes its light seems to dim. But you know it's always there. No matter what happens." I frown, tilting my head to the side._

 _"But stars die all the time. Does that mean love dies every now and then?" Splinter chuckles at me and shakes his head with a fond smile._

 _"No, my son. Love is constant, just as the stars are always going to be constant. For every star that dies, another one is born. And as long as that cycle keeps going around, as long as there is a star in the night sky, my love for you and your brothers will always be there. I want you to remember that, Donatello. Always remember that love is as constant as the stars above, and that I will always be there, whenever you need me." As he talks he starts to tuck me back in again, and I lay my head back on the pillow and nod at him._

 _"I will. I promise." He smiles down at me, leaning down and kissing me on the forehead before standing up and quietly leaving the room. I snuggle into the pillow and try to go back to sleep. But a voice keeps trying to wake me up; keeps calling my name._

 _"Donnie..."_

 _"Donnie?"_

 _"Donnie!"_

I slowly opened my eyes as the dream faded away along with the warm, comforting darkness I had been surrounded with for who knows how long. I blinked a little and was immediately blinded by the bright, white light that shone through the opening of a tent. I closed my eyes again and slowly but surely started to open them so they would get used to the light. I also started to feel the pain again. My whole body was aching and my left leg was pounding like crazy. Especially around the kneecap.

"Hey, I think he's coming to." I blinked and tried to find the source of the voice. My brain felt jumbled and I couldn't seem to place the voice with the right face, but I was pretty certain it was Jhanna. A few blurry blots appeared in my line of vision, and even though they were very blurry, I could tell by the colour of their skin, faces and hair that it was Jhanna, Starlee, Mona Lisa and Traximus. I guess it helps when your friends all look so different.

"Donnie? Can you hear me?" Starlee leaned down and as my vision got sharper I could see she was very, very concerned. And once I got a good look on the others I could see they were also really concerned about me. Even Mona Lisa, who had rarely shown any other emotion than disinterest or annoyance. I tried to ask what had happened, but all I managed to get out was a couple of dry groans. Jhanna and Traximus helped me sit up and lean back against a couple of big pillows while Mona Lisa grabbed a small bowl and placed it to my lips.

"Here, drink a little. You'll feel better, and your throat won't hurt so much." I don't know how she knew that my throat was so dry it was aching, but either way I complied and let her help me sip some water. And it felt really good. My throat immediately felt so much better, and the clear, cool water tasted so very wonderful. And that's saying something, considering that we always had to boil water in order to get rid of all the bacteria and dirt before we could drink it. When the water was gone she gently pulled away the bowl from my lips and I licked my lips and the inside of my mouth.

"Thanks." My voice was raspy and it felt pretty weak, mostly coming out little louder than a whisper, but she nodded with a smile anyway, putting the bowl aside. Now that I was a little more alert and sitting up, I took a moment to look around. I was in the Chief's tent, lying on his bed with several pillows placed under my head and back, so I was practically reclined on the bed. I could hear the Chief and the Professor talking to each other outside the tent. I looked back to the others.

"What... what happened?" Starlee bit her lip and looked away, Jhanna twirled a strand of hair around her finger and Mona looked down at the ground. Traximus placed his big hand on my shoulder and looked down on me. He looked as though he was thinking, 'I'm so sorry this had to happen to you'.

"You... were attacked by Zog. He beat you to the ground and your leg is severely injured." I felt my body grow cold and my eyes flew down to my left leg. I had expected it to be heavenly bandaged, but it wasn't. It looked relatively okay, nothing at all like I had expected. Still, a big long scar had marked my leg, starting a few inches over my knee and ending slightly below it and a big bruise had formed, giving my knee a dark purple colour. I looked up at the others, and Mona Lisa sat down beside Traximus.

"We tried our best to help you with the fire lily potion, but it didn't heal it entirely. It's not broken anymore, but it's still pretty bad. You're gonna have to take it easy for a while. Maybe not walk around too much." I guess I should have been relieved that it wasn't broken and that I wouldn't have to wait before I could walk again, but I was still injured and wouldn't be able to walk _properly_ for some time. Jhanna and Starlee looked at each other and then back at me with apologetic eyes.

"That's not the only thing." I looked at them and felt the dread and worry grow stronger in my chest and stomach. Jhanna took out a small, round object from her pocket and handed it to me. It was a small mirror, barely bigger than her palm, and I tried to be extra careful with it so I wouldn't break it with my much bigger hands. I looked hesitantly at the others, and then looked at my face in the small mirror. What I saw was not a very comforting sight.

Across my face ran three long scars, almost the same light green hue the scar on my arm had, only slightly darker and thus they were so much easier to see. I placed fingers on my face and ran them across the scars, two of them going from my right eyebrow- and slightly above it on my forehead- and all the way down to my left cheek. The third one went from below my right eye and down to the left corner of my upper lip. This time I felt some tears form in my eyes and almost slip out, so I quickly blinked them away. But Starlee and Traximus still saw that something was wrong, as she placed her hand on my shoulder and Traximus leaned down to look me in the eyes.

"Donatello, are you alright?" I lowered the hand with mirror, handing it back to Jhanna and trying to put on a smile, even though it was really hard to pull off.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just fine." But behind that strained smile I felt ready to cry or just go to sleep and never wake up again.

I almost wanted to scream when Traximus extended a large hand, the most familiar purple fabric in the world clutched in his palm. With shaking hands, which I tried my hardest to steady, I took my mask from his hand and reverently examined it, twisting one of the tails between my fingers in an age-old habit. I chewed my lip until it bled when I saw what that monster had done to my mask- one of my only ways of really distinguishing myself in my family. My individuality was ensured from a young age by the purple of this mask. And now it was torn to shreds, then hastily resurrected by the odd stitchwork of a grateful villager. I knew that when I put the mask back on my face, the lines of stitches would match up perfectly with my new scars, thus drawing even more attention to the fact that I was now permanently disfigured for my own stupidity.

 _'I knew it. I can't do this. I never should have thought I'd be able to do this.'_

* * *

Our second night on Filione came and we were all ready to go to bed. We had spent the day trying to help the Salamandarians clean up after the Triceraton attack. And by 'we', I mean everyone but me. Jhanna and the Professor had practically forced me to sit down and take it easy while they helped the others. But I had still found ways to be make myself useful by patching up the Salamandarians that had gotten injured during the attack and helped the other healers with whatever I could do. It wasn't much, but I still did something to help, which helped to soothe the ache in my heart just a bit.

Dinner that evening was painfully awkward and nowhere as pleasant as the one before. The Chief tried to cheer me up by saying that he would send us a small bottle of fire lily potion when we left tomorrow, and if I would pour a drop of that stuff in my drink every morning my leg would heal a lot quicker, but it didn't help me feel that much better, since I knew I'd have to cancel the mission and ask the Professor to just fly me home to Earth. There was nothing else I could do.

So now, while everybody else was sleeping soundly, I found myself tossing and turning and finding myself unable to sleep.

 _"'Uh oh'? Donnie, I thought you said you knew how to do this!"_

 _"Well, work faster!"_

 _"No, not the pizza guy! Take Donnie!"_

 _"You mutated my father!"_

 _"They're aliens from another dimension! What did you expect!? A big round ball with a lit fuse that says BOMB!?"_

 _"Dude! Your weapon just exploded!"_

 _"I never want to see you again!"_

 _"Wait, do you still think you have a shot with her?"_

 _"You know best, Gap Tooth!"_

 _"I hope you remember this moment the next time you think you'll ever be anything more than weak, pathetic little terrapin freak!"_

I jerked awake and sat up, panting, and had to hold myself back from screaming. I sat for a second and just breathed, trying to collect my thoughts, and looked over to the others to see if I had woken anyone up. When I saw that they were all still asleep, I got up on my good foot and grabbed my staff as crutch and started to limp out of the hut. Once I got outside I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. I placed the staff in the strap on my shell and started to climb up to a higher branch- which was incredibly tricky using only one leg. I was scared that I'd fall down a few times, but I managed to get up to a higher branch, about ten feet above the hut. No one would hear me and I wouldn't have to worry about waking anyone.

Once I got up on the branch I started to pace back and forth, trying my best to ignore the searing pain in my leg. "What the heck am I doing? I can't do this. Why did the heck did I think I could? It wouldn't change a thing! These guys are practically the rulers of the galaxy, and I'm just lousy excuse for a ninja. What's done is done, and..." I looked up at the sky and saw nothing. Unlike last night, there was no moon and no stars were out tonight. And I felt betrayed. The tears threatened once more as I looked out over the night sky.

"You said you'd always be there!" I didn't even hear my own echo, and there was no response at all. I felt my tears actually fall from my eyes and this time I didn't try to blink them away. "I didn't forget. You lied." More tears fell and I just let them. What more was there I could do? Nothing.

"I just wanna go home." I wiped my eyes with the back of my arm and sniffled. I pulled off my mask and stuffed it down into my belt. I didn't deserve to wear it; I was a failure. A ninja wasn't supposed to give up or be defeated that easily. I didn't deserve the title.

"Donnie?" I turned to look over my shoulder and saw a green face and turquoise eyes. And in the dark I could also see her pink ribbon tied around wrist. I had expected Jhanna or maybe Starlee, but not Mona Lisa. She stood up on the ladder, looking up at me, and I could see she was concerned. "Are you okay?" I quickly wiped my hands over my face to try and conceal my tears.

"Uh, yeah, yeah, I'm okay. Just a little frustrated." She raised an eyebrow at me, clearly unconvinced. She pulled herself onto the branch and walked up to me.

"I was hoping you'd be awake. I wanted to talk to you." I narrowed my eyes in confusion at her and sat down on the branch, watching as she sat down beside me. She fingered a little at the ribbon around her wrist, looked down at her feet and bit her lower lip. I waited. I knew that it would be best if I didn't rush her. Mona fingered her hair, sighed heavily and looked up at me.

"Why did you help me before? You know, with Zog." I was taken aback. This wasn't what I had expected, either, but I eventually just shrugged and looked away from her.

"Because it was the right thing to do. I couldn't just let them take you back to that place." She brushed her bangs out of her face.

"But I've not been a friend to you. I haven't helped you guys out in any way since we escaped from the Triceraton Prison. I've been nothing but a jerk, so why did you help me?" I bit the inside of my cheek and thought over what to say without it coming across as something bad.

"Well, I wouldn't say that you've been a jerk, just a little unpleasant. And that's not a reason for you to go to prison. I would probably be a bit bitter if I had been imprisoned for ten years. I've been told that you are a really nice girl, and I want to believe that." She sighed softly and played with her fingers.

"Well, maybe I used to be." She muttered and her long bangs fell over her face. I moved closer to her and considered placing my arm around her, but decided against it and just gave her some space. Mona took a few breaths and turned back to me, and I could see small tears forming in her eyes. She pulled the pink ribbon off her wrist and showed it to me.

"You see this?" I nodded. I had been wondering about that ribbon, since she seemed so protective of it. And I had seen a few other young females wear similar ribbons in their hair or around an arm, their necks or wrists. "Well, it's the only thing I have left of my mother." Oh, boy. It's gonna be one of 'those' stories, isn't it? She rubbed the pink fabric, never taking her eyes off it.

"You see, when Salamandarian girls reach a certain age, their mothers give them a ribbon they in turn were given by their mothers. It's a sign of maturity, that a girl is old enough and has basically become an adult. And when that girl meets a man that she really likes, she gives this ribbon to the man, as a way of showing that she wants to spend the rest of her life with him. He's allowed to say yes or no, but it's still the females that ask." So, it was like asking somebody to marry you? Okay, interesting story, but whatever.

"Since my mother died before she could give it to me, I took as a keepsake and always keep it on me. It's the only thing that I have that reminds me of her. But that's not the point- the point is that all my life I've always known who I was and who I'd grow up to be. I'd learn to be a healer and I'd find a nice Salamandarian boy to spend my life with and bear his children. That was all I was gonna do with my life, and I was fine with that. I didn't need anything else. But then, everything just changed.

"I was shipped off to prison and spent the first few months hoping someone would come and rescue me. I prayed to the Aeons every night for help, and just kept hoping. But after several months, I realized that no one was gonna come and this was my life now. And for several years I just did what I had to do in order to survive. And then you showed up. You and Jhanna, and you were going on about escaping and getting out of there. You were the hero I had been hoping for, but at the same time I didn't want to believe it. I just thought you were another one of those that had such high beliefs that they would be able to escape, and all of them had failed in the past. I didn't want to get my hopes up.

"But then you actually managed to pull off an escape and we were free from those creeps. All I wanted was to go home, but then you said you were gonna chase after the Triceratons and I was terrified. I just wanted my old life back, not to go on an adventure. So I was happy to finally go home again and leave prison life and everything the Triceratons were and just get my life back to how it used to be. I come back and I realize that my whole planet's been dragged into the war I wanted to avoid. The war I hoped I could forget after I got back home. And now I realize that even if I stay or not, I will be a part of this whether I want to or not." Her story really wasn't at all what I had expected. But now I understood why she acted the way she had and I felt more sorry for her. But still, she seemed to have something more on her mind.

"What are you trying to say, Mona?" She looked up at me with a new fire in her eyes. A flame of determination and strength.

"I want to help you to save Earth." My eyes widened and my arms fell to my sides. What? Mona had gone from a scared yet highly defensive girl to wanting to get involved in a huge war against the very creatures she was scared of? That was an unimaginable and quick change.

"Why?" She shrugged and tied the ribbon around her wrist again.

"I can either fight a war against the Triceratons that try to take our resources but don't take us seriously, or I can try to make a bigger change. To stop the Triceratons permanently. And I'd rather help you than just stay here and not make much of a change. I know I said I don't care about Earth all that much, but I also see how the Triceratons are affecting my home, and I can't help but be scared about what they're gonna do to Earth- to your home. And I'm not gonna sit here and let these freaks terrorize my people and possibly do worse to other planets." I gave her a wry smile.

"Thank you, Mona. I admire your bravery, but I don't think you'll have to. Tomorrow I'm gonna ask the the Professor to fly me back to Earth again." Mona's eyes widened and her jaw hit the ground.

"WHAT? WHY?!" Instead of hearing just Mona Lisa, I heard three voices. Both Mona and I looked up and towards that ladder behind us. And below us I saw both Jhanna and Starlee standing there, looking up at us. I barely had time to react before Jhanna had hurried up the ladder and ran up to us.

"Donnie, you can't be serious right now! So we lost a battle today- big deal! You're not gonna quit just because of that, are you?" I lowered my head and looked away from her, resting my chin in my hands. Starlee brushed her sister aside and sat down beside me and placed her arm around my shoulders.

"Donnie, why do you wanna give up? You've been so driven to save your world and really shown that you wanted to save Earth, so why do you wanna throw in the towel now?" I sighed and shrugged lightly.

"You saw what happened back there. How can I possibly stand a chance against these guys? They're so much stronger and more skilled than I am. There's nothing I can do." Jhanna shook her head placed her hand on my shoulder, shaking me roughly.

"Don't say that! You are strong and skilled- there's so much you can do! And if you quit now, what about Earth? What about the people who live there- your family? Are you just gonna let them die?" I wanted to be angry at her, but I didn't have the energy to get angry, so I just shrugged.

"I guess I'll just wait for the Triceratons to attack Earth and try to defeat them when they come." Jhanna and Starlee exchanged horrified glances, but before they could say anything, I felt another hand, only this one on my cheek, that made me look up at Mona Lisa. She looked me straight in the eyes with serious yet compassionate eyes of her own.

"Donnie, listen to me. I've been imprisoned almost my whole life. And the Aeons have never answered my prayers- until now. You came to that prison, you had hope, you had determination, you had strength. And even with everything that has happened, you are still alive. The Aeons haven't given up on you yet, so you cannot give up on yourself now." Jhanna and Starlee looked surprisedly at her, but Starlee quickly nodded and hugged me around the shoulders.

"Yes! You have to believe in yourself! You are strong and you are a fighter! You can do this. And until your leg heals, we'll help you. We believe in you, nevermind what Zog said!" Jhanna sat down behind me and lightly punched my shoulder.

"Yeah, that Zog freak has no idea what he's talking about! And we don't care about what he thinks- we're your friends. We'll follow you every step of the way- just lead the way!" I looked up at these girls who all looked at me encouragingly, smiles on their faces. They believed in me? Even after that big fiasco, they still believed in me? Suddenly a stream of light appeared from the sky, and as I looked up I saw that the moon and stars had appeared from behind the clouds.

 _"Love is like stars. You can't always see it, you can't touch it and sometimes its light seems to dim. But you know it's always there. No matter what happens."_

I smiled at the sky and looked up at the girls again. "Well, Zog was actually right about one thing." They looked at each other with worry in their faces and Mona asked me with uncertainty and a raised eyebrow,

"Oh? And, uh, what's that?" I reached down into my belt and pulled out my mask, tying it over my face and standing up strong and tall, even if it was painful with my bum leg.

"I _don't_ know when to give up."

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 **A/N: Yay! And it's done! Now, just a quick reminder, I will most likely not update in a while. I will be going on vacation and I'm not sure if I can bring my Macbook with me. And even if I can, the hotel we'll be staying at the longest doesn't seem to have free WIFI. Just so you know.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	43. Chapter 42, On to Zerij We Go

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Hi guys! Did you all like the 100th episode? 'Cause I sure did! Guess who's back from the States? That's right, this girl! And I gotta say, it was a great experience to see your beautiful country (even though I only saw Florida). It was just so beautiful and it was all just such a great experience! I hope I'll go sometime soon, it was such a wonderful time.**

 **Anyway, I didn't get much time to write, since I've had a busy couple of weeks, with a lot of things that I've seen and done. And whenever I did have time, I was too tired to want to do anything other than relax. So now I've put together a bit of a longer chapter for you, since I haven't given you anything in two weeks.**

 **I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 42, On to Zerij We Go

Early the next morning, just as the sun was slowly rising over the forest, we were up and ready to leave Filione behind. The Chief had almost blown a gasket when Mona Lisa had gone to his tent and told him that she wanted to help us save Earth. He had pulled her aside to try and convince her to stay on Filione where she would be safe. I have no idea how tempting she found his words, but she stood strong against them and declined every single time.

"I'll be put in danger either way. And the Triceratons will be a part of my life whether I want them to or not. They'll be back, and they will try to make life miserable for the Salamandarians no matter how much we fight. I want to stop them, and the only way to do that is to nip the problem in the bud. Or, you know, go to the root of the problem. I want to do this." Eventually he had realized she wasn't gonna give up and gave her his blessing, albeit reluctantly.

In the meantime the rest of us had prepared to leave. Jhanna had packed together the things we had with us, like weapons and clothes she or Starlee weren't wearing at the moment. Starlee and the Professor had prepared the ship for takeoff and Traximus had carried barrels of fuel and proviant the Salamandarians had given us as a wish for good luck and out of generosity.

I had not been allowed to do much, due to my injured leg, so I had been given a lot of time to think. Even with everything Jhanna, Starlee and Mona had said to me last night and with my new dose of determination, I still felt doubt eat its way through that young confidence. I still had yet to accept the fact that I wasn't on Earth, deep down, and things were so different out here. And I didn't have my family to support me anymore; I was on my own. Well, not entirely, but you know what I mean. And given how well I had done in my training with Traximus and in that fight with Zog and his goons, I didn't really see how I could become the warrior I had to be. I mean, fifteen years of training hadn't helped me much, so how could a few months make any difference?

"Donnie, are you okay?" I looked up and saw Jhanna peering down at me with concern in her green eyes. I shrugged and scooted over on the log I was sitting on, giving Jhanna room to sit down beside me, and rested my chin in my hands.

"I don't know, Jhanna. I mean, I want to get strong and be able to stand against the Triceratons, but I just don't see how that's gonna happen. I've always been the weakest and in every fight I've been in since I arrived in these parts of space, I've only been lucky. Well, except for the one yesterday." Jhanna frowned at me, placed her hands on her sides and looked straight at me.

"Donnie, I thought we talked about this. You can't quit after one bad fight!" I looked up at her.

"I'm not talking about quitting anything. All I'm saying is that I don't see how I'll become the warrior I need to be in order to save Earth, let alone the leader you guys seem to think I am." I sighed and looked down at the ground, once again putting my chin in my hands. "My brothers and father would handle this situation so much better than I ever could." Jhanna hummed in thought, then placed her hand on my shoulder.

"Okay, I think I see the problem here." I looked up at her. "You seem to like to compare yourself and your surroundings with how things are back on Earth, right? Well, it seems to me that your body is here with us in space, but your head is back on Earth along with everything you miss and love." I cocked my head to the side and probably looked as confused as I felt. She noticed it.

"Don't get it? Okay, how about this: we treat you as captain and leader, you compare yourself to your brother. You talk about being a warrior, you compare yourself to your father or brothers. You want to save your world, you say your family would be able to handle it better than you." I looked down at the ground and my eyes widened slightly. Jhanna saw this and kept going.

"I really think you need to let go of all of that, and focus more on what needs to be done, rather than how everybody else would do it all so much better. It's holding you back from your full potential." I looked up at her and felt like kicked puppy. If what she said was true- which was highly likely- how would I move past this block that had formed?

"And how do I do that?" She shrugged and wrapped her arms around her knees.

"I don't know. That's up to you. But here's what I think: if you keep lingering on what is left on Earth, or if you keep thinking about who you were back home, you're never gonna get better at fighting or being a leader." I bit my lip and looked away from her, resting my elbows in my lap.

"I guess." After that we just sat quietly for a while, without looking at each other or making any attempt to say anything. I started to think over what she said, and the more I thought about it, I started to see that she was right. If I were to become the warrior I not only needed to be, but also wanted to be, I had to work through this block in my head. And that was something only I could do. My friends couldn't help me with something like that; that was my own problem to work through.

"Donatello." Jhanna and I watched Chief Patowan approach us with a small bottle in one hand and a leather pouch in the other. My first instinct was to stand up, but the jolt of pain that shot through my leg immediately reminded me why that was a bad idea and Jhanna helped me sit down again, muttering 'take it easy'. The Chief walked up to me and looked me in the eye.

"Our healers have prepared a bottle of our healing potion for you. Now, remember, you must only drink one drop, once daily. More than one drop can lead to the leg not healing properly. Or it might make you very ill. It is made from a very strong flower." I nodded and reached out to take it, but he put it down in a small pocket on the side of the pouch instead. "I would also recommend that you only use the potion when you are severely injured or ill, since you only have the one bottle." He then looked up at me.

"We have counted that your journey to Zerij and other worlds in chase of Black Hole machine will be very long. And you might need things throughout the journey that will not be given to you out of kindness or generosity. So we have gathered up some zemulacks for you, for emergencies." I looked at him, then down at the pouch and realized what was in it; money. I quickly shook my head at him. This was money that they worked hard every day of their lives to obtain- and that was probably not that much to begin with. They needed that money for resources and for weapons and protection. I raised my hands and shook my head, eyes wide.

"No. No, I can't accept this. I mean, it's very kind of you, but I can't-" He placed the pouch in my hands and placed his hands over mine, gently squeezing them so I would tighten my grip.

"Take it." He smiled warmly at me. "You will come to need it more than we do." I looked down at the pouch in my hands, then up at the Chief, smiled and bowed my head in respect.

"Thank you, Chief. Thank you everything." Jhanna smiled at him and bowed her head too, albeit a little stiffly. The Chief smiled back and bowed before me, before he straightened up and looked me in the eyes with seriousness.

"Look after my granddaughter. Make sure she is kept safe, please." My smile faded and I studied him. His eyes were filled with worry, concern, and love for Mona, and I nodded at him.

"I promise." We heard the Professor's voice from the ship.

"It's time to leave now! Everyone who wants to leave Filione with the rest of us, back to the ship!" Jhanna stood up and handed me my staff, which was on the ground in front of me. I took it and tried to place most of my weight on it, but I still felt that searing pain in my leg as Jhanna and I walked towards the ship. Mona came running from the village with a small bag slung over her shoulder and her ponytail bouncing from side to side as she ran. When she saw her grandfather, she slowed down and stopped before him. And despite the fact that she had been ready to leave and had said over and over that she wanted to go with us, she now looked ready to cry when she looked at her only living relative. Patowan's face was slightly scrunched, as if he was also trying to hold back tears. He placed his hand on Mona's cheek.

"Are you sure this is what you want? Once you are out on this mission, I doubt there's going to be a way for you turn back." Mona was silent for a second and bit her lip, as if in deep thought. When she looked back up her eyes were determined, though small traces of tears were still there.

"I'm sure. I want to do this. I want to go out and make a difference, not just sit here and fight a few battles here and there. If I have to do either, I'd rather help the galaxy and possibly stop the threat altogether than just sit around and stop the threat on one planet." Patowan nodded and I could see that he wanted to force her to stay at home, but also knew that he couldn't.

"Well, just promise me that you will be careful. Promise that you will do your best to come back home again. Please." She placed her hand over his and now let her tears fall without resistance.

"I promise, Grandfather. I'll miss you." She hugged him tightly and he quickly returned the embrace and stroked his hand through her long hair. I couldn't help but feel bad for both of them. Chief Patowan had gone through almost ten years believing his granddaughter was dead, and Mona had gone through that time believing she would never see the sun again, let alone her grandfather. And now when they were finally reunited again, they had to go their separate ways again. Starlee looked at the two and though she had a small smile on her face, I saw a few tears form in her eyes. Jhanna just groaned, rolled her eyes and walked back inside the stealth ship. Though she had the decency to groan quietly and not make such a dramatic scene out of it. Traximus followed shortly after and the Professor placed his hand on my shoulder, grabbing my attention.

"I will go and start up the ship. But we really should hurry." I nodded and watched as he walked back into the ship to start up the engines. Mona and Patowan pulled away from each other and Mona placed a kiss on his cheek.

"Goodbye, Grandfather." She squeezed his hands and then pulled away from him. As she walked up to us, Starlee placed an arm around her for comfort, and Mona smiled at her through her tears.

"Come on, we have to leave now." I smiled at Chief Patowan and waved at him. "Goodbye, Chief Patowan- and thanks for everything!" He waved back, his one hand resting on his wooden cane, but his eyes were still on Mona Lisa. With that we walked up the gangway.

I put on my breathing collar as I sat down in one of the chairs, readying myself for takeoff. Jhanna had put her helmet on, and Starlee had put her own collar on. Traximus had worn his helmet the entire visit, so he didn't have to get ready in that way, and the Professor didn't breathe at all. Mona hadn't had any gear with her when we landed. She sat down in the chair beside me.

"So, what's the plan? I mean, the Triceratons have a head start. How are we gonna catch up?" I bit my lip and thought as hard as I could. I hadn't really gotten that far yet. I sighed and leaned back in my seat. Man, thinking out every single thing and planning ahead was really hard. Sure, I was something of the family strategist, but my plans always revolved around best probability, and I couldn't work too well with such little data as was available now. If I ever got back home again I would never give Leo a hard time or tease him about being a leader, 'cause it was clearly harder than I had ever thought it would be. Not that I had ever thought that it would be, but still.

"Well, I guess we'll just set the coordinates for Zerij and press the pedal to the metal. I don't really know what else we can do. It's not like there's a wormhole that'll conveniently take us to Zerij in just a few days." I said that as seriously as I could, but I had to work really hard to suppress the 'right?' that wanted to come out after that sentence. I really didn't want to go through another wormhole, but if there was a way we could get there quicker than the Triceratons, we might not have any other option. The Professor looked up from the controls when I stopped talking.

"Well, if you would like, when we get back onboard I could check for wormholes that might give us a shortcut." I felt myself grow a little cold and bit my tongue before I could yell 'NO!'. We needed to get there as quickly as possible, and if that meant that we had to go through another insane rollercoaster of death, then we had to do it. Jhanna wrinkled her nose and I could that that wasn't what she had wanted to hear.

"Oh, yeah, that sounds great." Mona muttered to herself and brushed some hair out of her face. She fingered a little at her long hair, then got a thoughtful look in her eyes, a look I recognised. Narrowed eyebrows, lips lightly pressed together and eyes that seem to exist in another world. When I looked over at Starlee I saw that even she didn't look that eager about another trip through a wormhole, and with her endless stream of optimism that was quite a feat.

The Professor immediately walked over to the controls to look for any shortcuts or any other useful information. The rest of us walked out into the dining and entertainment room. And I had to say that even though the ship was pretty cold and emotionless, it still felt rather good to be back onboard.

"So, now what do we do?" Starlee sat down on the couch and rested one leg over the other. Jhanna shrugged and drew her sword, eyeing it with an eagerness that almost made her look a little scary.

"Well, I'd like to get some training in. I wanna be ready for a rematch with those freaks!" Traximus snorted indignantly, but Jhanna didn't seem to notice. Mona Lisa's eyes fell on the blade of Jhanna's sword and they widened in a way that signaled that she just had an idea.

"Can I borrow that for a second?" Jhanna looked up from her sword and dreams of payback and at Mona, kinda shocked andsurprised. She then looked down at the sword again, then back at Mona and then handed her the sword.

"Uh, sure. But what are you gonna-?" Before she had come close to finishing the sentence, Mona acted out on her idea. She quickly grabbed her long ponytail, held it up, raised the blade of the sword and cut through her long, thick hair, just inches away from the ribbon, in one quick gesture. Her hair, that had just reached down to her waist, now barely reached her shoulders, and the pink ribbon had fallen to the floor. She bent down and picked it up and tied it around her neck, like a scarf, before she handed the sword back to Jhanna with a quick thanks. Jhanna stared at her.

"Well, that was random." Mona shrugged and gripped the cut off hair that was still in her hand.

"I've wanted to cut it for some time, but while being imprisoned it didn't seem like an appropriate time to worry about how you looked. Besides, what's good about having long hair in a battle? The enemy could just grab it and use it against you! Everybody knows how much it hurts to have someone pull at your hair." When she saw me and Traximus look strangely at her, she shrugged and gave a wry smile. "Well, anyone with hair knows." Jhanna hummed in thought and fingered on her own almost waist-long hair.

"Hm, that's a pretty good point. I should cut my hair too. I'll do it later, though." She put her sword back in her belt. She looked over Mona and her new hairdo. "It's actually... not that bad. Pretty nice, really." Mona smiled shyly.

"Thanks." Starlee also smiled.

"Yeah, it looks really cute. It really brings out your eyes." I rolled my eyes with lighthearted smile. Girls- is there anyone who really understands them? I limped over to the Food Replicator.

"Well, I don't know what you're gonna do next, but I for one want some breakfast. I'm starving." That seemed to get everyone's attention and the girls also came over to get some food. But Traximus started to walk over to the holo-dojo.

"I will eat later. I would really like get some training right now. I will see you later."

After we had all gotten some food, we sat down at a table together and for a while, we ate in silence. I let a drop of that fire lily potion fall into my coffee before putting the pouch away on the couch. When I turned back to my food, I saw Mona stare down on my toast with ham in disgust.

"What?" She looked up and blushed a little.

"Nothing. It's just," she looked down at my toast again, "you're eating meat." My eyes darted from side to side, then back to Mona.

"Uh, yes I am. What's wrong with that?" She shuddered and swallowed. For a moment I thought she had swallowed down her own vomit. She took a bite out of her own sandwich with some sort of lettuce and something that looked like tomato on it.

"Nothing, I guess. It's just that, well, Salamandarians can't really handle meat. We are vegetarians, so we can't digest meat. We can handle fish, to a certain degree, but too much can make us sick, too. I guess I can't help but react to another reptile eating meat." I stared at her for second, shrugged and sipped some of my coffee. And even though it was only one drop, that one drop of fire lily potion made the coffee taste so much sweeter, in a good way. I usually didn't like coffee with any sugar in it, but this sort of sweetness was actually kind of nice. It gave the whole thing a nice, almost exotic flavor to it.

Even more silence followed after that. Starlee sipped on something that looked like a purple juice of some sort, and looked over at me. "So, do you miss them?" I looked up from my toast and over at her.

"Hm, what? Do I miss who?" She put her glass down and played a little with a string of her hair, biting her lower lip and looking down.

"Well... your family. " I dropped the toast down on the plate and felt myself go numb. The girls jumped slightly as the toast hit the plate with a light 'squish', which made me look down and try patch up the toast.

"Oh, uh, well, yeah, I do. I mean, they're my family. I love them and I care for them. Even though they drive me insane on a daily basis." Starlee raised an eyebrow at me, looking pretty confused.

"But, you said that they treated you unfairly. You told me that they took you for granted and treated you like a workhorse." I bit my lip in embarrassment and felt my cheeks get hotter. Yeah, I had said that, but I had also been pretty frustrated and tired at the time. I hadn't meant it, not really. I sipped down some more coffee and thought over my words.

"Well, yeah, they kinda did, but I still love them. They didn't always treat me that well, but we're still family. And it's not like they've never been there for me in the past. I still care about them, even if they probably don't." Starlee nibbled a little on one of those muffins she seemed to like for breakfast and stared out into space in thought. Jhanna popped a berry into her mouth.

"Why do you think they don't care?" I fell silent and looked down at my toast. I didn't feel like answering that question at all, so I quickly ate up my toast and grabbed my cup of coffee, standing up to walk away.

"I have to go. I just remembered, I have something to do." I heard the girls call out my name, and even heard Jhanna mumble to the others 'was it something I said?', before the door to the bedrooms closed behind me. I limped all the way down to my bedroom, placed my coffee mug on the bedside table and let myself fall down on the bed, pressing a pillow over my face. I groaned loudly into the pillow in an attempt to rid myself of any frustration or pain that had been built up in me over the past two days.

Why was this so hard? Why was it so hard to let these girls in and tell them what my problem was? Well, that was both a simple and difficult question to answer. It was easy because I knew that I still didn't feel entirely comfortable around them yet. I hardly knew Mona or Starlee as it was, and even though I had gotten to know Jhanna over these past few months, it still felt weird to tell her about these personal things. I almost felt ashamed about talking about it. And that was the hard part of the question. Why did I feel like that? These girls had their rough spots, I mean, everyone does, but they were clearly good people. Uh, aliens. Ugh, whatever. And they were clearly reaching out and wanted to get to know me better, and how else to do so than by asking questions? To them I must seem like a complete basket case.

But, hey, it wasn't like this feeling was anything new. I had this feeling plenty of times before. It was the same feeling I got when... when I thought of talking to my brothers. I removed the pillow from my face and sat up. Yeah, it was the same feeling I got when I considered talking to my brothers about my problems or how I felt about things.

I never talked to the guys about how I felt, my problems or the things I went through. I had tried, but every time it was the wrong time, or no one had time to listen or I just got a mean comment or sarcastic quip thrown in my face. They probably thought I was so pathetic that they didn't want to get involved in my problems. It was always, 'Not now, Donnie!', or 'I got better things to do than listen to your whining' or 'Dude, you're interrupting my game!'. So eventually I had just given up trying to talk to them. There had been times when they, somehow, had noticed that I was feeling down and had asked me about how I felt or if something was wrong.

"Hmph, a little late by that point." I muttered to myself and stood up. Yeah, real nice of them to notice my feelings after years of just leaving me to my own business without so much as a second glance. Nowadays the only one who could get anything out of me was Master Splinter, and even that included a lot of prying from his side. Even April couldn't get much out of me, and I loved talking to her. She was a good listener and was the only one showing interest in what I had to say. That is, until Casey showed up.

I groaned and rubbed my hands over my face. What is wrong with me? Why did I have to be so unfair? I knew my brothers cared about me. I knew that they would gladly go through fire and water for my sake. And I knew there were plenty of moments when they showed that. Leo was always there by my bedside when I was sick or injured after a fight to cater to my every need. Mikey was always encouraging me to try again or push myself to become better when I was down after a failed experiment or a sparring session that didn't go especially well. And Raph was... What was he? The one to make me want to succeed even more just so I could see the look on his face when I succeeded at something he thought was impossible or a waste of time? I sighed. I didn't exactly know.

I walked over to the mirror that hung over the dresser and looked myself deep in the eyes. The scars over my face seemed to sneer and laugh at me. 'What are you doing?', they laughed at me. 'You have no idea what you are doing! You never did! In fact, if it wasn't for you, none of this would ever have happened! Just give up and go home, while you still can.'

I sighed and looked over my reflection. I sighed again. Not exactly the reflection of a great hero. I was scrawny, had very little muscle that showed my years of training and I was covered with small scars and scratches from every fight I had been in ever since I arrived in space. In fact, if I looked hard enough, I could still see some of the bruise I had gotten after being hit in the head by a Kraang's laser bullet when I fell through that portal. But that was nearly gone, so it wasn't quite as visible as the scars over my face. And those three scars were the worst. There was no way I could look at those horrible marks and not think FAILURE with big letters. Zog's words were still haunting my thoughts and mocking me for my failed attempt to fight him.

 _'I hope you remember this moment the next time you think you'll EVER be ANYTHING more than weak, pathetic little terrapin freak!'_

I growled and looked down into the dresser's surface and slammed my fists as hard against it as I could, and clenched my fists as tightly as I could. No! No, that was not true! I was not just a freak. I was a genius, I was a highly trained ninja and I never gave up. Giving up was just not an option. Sure, failure was always possible, but that was not a good enough reason to give up the battle. I was not gonna let that dinosaur-freak push me down to the bottom again.

I looked up into the mirror again. "There has to be more to me than the things they see. There just has to be more than a big brain and big heart to me." I couldn't go through my life and be 'just the guy with the big brain'. Or the guy with compassion and loved everyone he knew. That just can't be all there is to me. People had called me weak, pathetic, a coward, scrawny and freak my whole life and I was sick of it. I wanted to matter. I wanted to leave an impact on the world. I wanted to show those dino-lousers that they had messed with the wrong turtle.

But still, even if I did work hard to become better at fighting, what would change? I had given 110% in my training with Master Splinter all my life, and what did I have to show for it? Nothing. Well, except for the fact that I was a tad stronger and endured more than an average human, but still, that wasn't much. What would another teacher and even more determination do?

I pressed my lips together. I may not be able to make that big of a difference, but I still had to try. I was still scared and unsure, but I knew that couldn't let that stop me. Master Splinter wouldn't let it stop him. Leo wouldn't let it stop him. And either would Mikey or Raph. Heck, even April and Casey would keep going despite how hopeless the situation might seem. I had to do this. And that meant I had to step up and be leader for these guys, despite how hard it might be. I looked into the mirror and straight into my own eyes.

"Okay, Donnie, it's obvious what you have to do right now. You can do this. You are strong, you are intelligent and you are capable. You have the chance to prove to yourself and everyone who you are and that you can be just as much a hero and leader as Leo, as much a warrior as Raph and as much an unpredictable force as Mikey. It's time for you to leave your mark on the world. It's time to grow up. Just hold your head high and you will succeed." I nodded to myself with a confident smile before stepping back from the mirror.

"Goodbye, Donatello. It's time for a new turtle to step forward." My eyes fell on the suit on my dresser that I had yet to actually use and picked it up. I unfolded it and held it up by the shoulders, to get a good look at the whole suit. It was a nice looking suit, but didn't look like it would protect me from much. The Professor had told me these suits would protect against severe cold and extreme heat and that it was made out of a tough and resilient material that was very shockproof, but that seemed to be it. It was very unprotected and could still get ripped easily. It's not like it had any weapons or anything that could protect the valuable parts on my body.

Suddenly I felt a figurative lightbulb light up over my head. I know I didn't have much training right now, and I knew I was injured. So I would need some sort of protection for myself down on Zerij. And there was a whole lot of scrap metal and all kinds of cool gear in the room with the rest of those suits. I grinned widely as the gears turned in my head and I looked up and down the suit.

"Oh, Donatello, I love your mind." I grinned to myself and was so excited about my great idea that I didn't even feel stupid for talking to myself like this. However, I was the yanked out of my thoughts as the Professor's voice was heard throughout the ship.

" _I'm sorry to interrupt any activities you might be up to, but I believe to have found us a shortcut._ " I grinned. Finally things seemed to be going our way. I grabbed my temporary crutch and started to make my way towards the control room. Jhanna and the others were already there and the Professor was standing over the computers and looking for wormholes. I limped up to him.

"Professor." He looked up, smiled his robot smile at me and waved me over.

"Hello, Donatello." I looked over at the computers and then out the big windows. I saw nothing but distant stars blinking at me, but I knew enough to know that wormholes wouldn't be visible to the eye. So there could still be one out there, but I was hoping like crazy that there wasn't.

"What have you found? Any shortcuts or wormholes that can get us to Zerij?" He looked down at the computers again, as if to double-check the info he had gathered for us.

"Well, it seems there is a way for us to get to Zerij by tomorrow. And we're just minutes away from it. If we go through it, we'll most definitely get there before the Triceratons. Or very close behind them in case they went through it too." His smile turned into a small frown. "Unfortunately it means we have go through a wormhole." I felt my smile fall dramatically off my face. Oh, of course it involved the worst ride I had ever been put through. I heard Mona groan loudly and slam her face against the her.

"Oh, great. You know, I really missed being shaken around like a rag doll and going so fast I was almost turned inside out." I felt a bit torn in between smiling and shaking my head at her or rolling my eyes in annoyance. I mean, Mona was not a stranger to complaining and stating how bad things were, and it both felt good 'cause it showed she had done a complete 180. But still, it didn't exactly make things better. Jhanna glanced over at her with half-shut, annoyed eyes.

"None of us like that ride at all, but stating the obvious doesn't exactly make it better." Mona looked over at her with the same annoyance in her eyes and was close to snapping at her.

"Yeah? Well, it doesn't make it worse, either." Jhanna rolled her eyes and turned away from her, folding her arms over her chest and shaking her head. Starlee also looked apprehensive, but she stood up and took a few steps in our direction.

"No, but if it makes sure we might get a head start, and the Black Hole Generator piece, before the Triceratons do, then we might have no choice." Traximus nodded.

"She speaks wisely. If we took the long way because the shorter one gives a minor inconvenience, then it might already be too late by the time we get to Zerij. What do you think, Donatello?" I bit my lip. I did not look forward to going through another wormhole, but Starlee and Traximus both made very good points. Yes it was a shaky ride to say the very least, but that shaky ride could give us the head start we needed. And if we took the long way, by the time we got to Zerij it might already be too late and the Triceratons would be gone. We really had no choice. I took a deep breath and turned to the others.

"Buckle up, girls. It's gonna be a bumpy ride." Mona and Jhanna didn't look too thrilled, but Mona and Starlee sat down in the same pod as last time and Jhanna slipped into her own and Traximus squeezed himself into his own pod. The Professor turned to me.

"You'd better go and sit down, Donatello. I've set the coordinates for the wormhole, and we'll get pulled into the gravitational pull in less than five minutes." I bit my lip, took a deep breath and then looked up at the Professor.

"Uh, actually, if it's all the same to you, Professor, I'd like to drive the ship through the wormhole." He looked surprisedly at me, and the others also looked up and stared at me. Jhanna brushed some of her bangs out of her face, which showed her surprised eyes.

"But you said that you didn't feel like you handle it. You said you weren't ready."

"I know what I said. But I also know that I need to step out of my comfort zone and step up and actually do things if I want to save Earth. I want to do this." Before anyone could answer, the ship started shaking a little, indicating that it we were close to being pulled into the wormhole, so the Professor hurried over to the other pod and sat down beside Jhanna. I looked down at the controls in front of me and sat down. My eyes fell on the big yellow button that I needed to push in order for us to be safe throughout the whole trip. Miss it and we would get crushed.

"Take it easy, Donnie. You can do this. Just focus and don't lose your head-" I barely got to finish the sentence before it started again. The shaking intensified and the whole ship started to shake like ten earthquakes at once. And it was much worse to sit at the front of the ship than in one of the pods behind me. They at least gave you more of a chance to brace yourself and not slam your head against the metal in front of you. Here there was no real protection against the craziness inside the hole.

I reached forward to push the button, but was just slammed into the back of my seat. It was a chore to move forward at all and every time I was close to hitting the button I was thrown back again. It was just impossible to reach it without getting thrown back again.

"Ugh, D-Donnie!" Jhanna's strained cry somehow reached my ears and I gritted my teeth. Come on, Donnie! You can do this. You can do do this! Show them, show them all what you can do. I reached out my hand and grabbed the keyboard so I could pull myself forward and raised my other hand. This is it. Only a few seconds left now. My hand on the keyboard started to slip, I had to act now. I pulled myself a little further and just as my hand was about to lose its grip, I slammed my hand down on the big yellow button with all the strength I had left.

Seconds after I hit the button I was slammed against the back of the seat and hit my head against the cold metal and almost lost consciousness. The stars outside the window flew by so fast that they all looked like white blobs that went by at more than a million miles an hour. Once again I found myself unable to move or speak and colours started to flash outside the windows again. My breathing was getting more and more shallow and for second I thought I was gonna pass out again, just like last time, but then suddenly it stopped. Very suddenly. So much so that when the shaking stopped and we were flying smoothly again, I almost flew face first into the keyboard in front of me. I placed my hands in front of me and panted like a dog to try and get my head together again.

I did it. I actually did it! I drove a spaceship through a wormhole going at hyper speed! I felt like jumping up and down and squealing like a schoolgirl, and I probably would have done that if it wasn't for the fact that I was drained of energy and if I tried to jump I would most likely throw up. But still, I had pulled through. That was incredible. Ooh, if only the guys had been here to see me. Captain Donatello's first official act as captain onboard a spaceship. So awesome!

Oh, right, the guys. I turned to look over my shoulder at the others in their pods. "Guys, are you alive?" Jhanna groaned and sat up straight in her seat, trying to push her hair out of her face. She rubbed her forehead, which gave me the idea that she had slammed her forehead against the metal in front of her, but I didn't see any bruises. She looked at me and shot me half-hearted glare.

"Hmph, you like to wait till the last second, don't you?" I rolled my eyes at her and stood up. I grabbed my crutch and walked over to others, who were starting to climb out of their respective pods. Mona looked pretty normal but both Starlee and Jhanna looked like they had just gotten out of bed. Or a giant hairdryer. I had seen what a hairdryer on the fritz could do to a girl's hair after April had lived at our place for a few weeks before that first invasion. It was not exactly pretty.

Starlee groaned nauseously and drew her fingers through her hair, pushing her bangs out of her face and up on the top of her head, to then let them fall down the sides of her face. And Jhanna just pulled out both her ponytails and re-tied them instead of trying to brush through them with her fingers like she usually did.

"So, how far until we get to Zerij from here?" Mona asked and it looked like she was trying her hardest to not throw up. The Professor, who had been helping Traximus stand up from his own pod, came over to us with his usual robot smile.

"Well, we have the coordinates set for Zerij. And thanks to the wormhole we should be there by tomorrow, like I said." He turned to me and gave a thumbs up. "Excellent driving, Donatello." I smiled, and I had to admit, it felt really good. Jhanna gave me a wry smile and a thumbs up.

"Yeah, I gotta admit, that was pretty cool. Even if the ride was a nightmare. Nice job, Captain D." Starlee hugged my arm and smiled widely at me, flashing her bright white teeth like pearls.

"I knew you could do it! See, all you needed was to believe in yourself." Traximus smacked me on the back and smirked at me and gave me a 'good job' as well. Even Mona seemed to be happy with how things had turned out, though she did look a little bashful.

"Yeah, that was a pretty good fly-through. Good job." I didn't know what to do with myself. All this praise and these guys who were more than happy to tell me how well I had flown through that wormhole, it was pretty overwhelming. I was still smiling, but now I must look like an idiot, 'cause my smile practically went from ear to ear.

"Thank you. That's really nice of you." Then I remembered my idea and looked over at the Professor. "Hey, I got an idea for something I wanted to build earlier. Do you think there are any tools on this ship that I can use? And maybe a place where I can build?" He nodded.

"There are tools in that room with spacesuits and gear. You are more than welcome to use them. But, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly do you plan on doing with them?" I adjusted my crutch a little and started to walk towards the room to grab the tools.

"You'll see. It's a surprise."

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 **A/N: And finally it's done! To all the other writers out there, never attempt to write two chapters at the same time. You'll just overwhelm yourself. That's my writing tip of the week to you. Now, I will try to find a day to update once a week, but I can't promise anything since I've to balance out school and everything else I have to do. But I'll try to find day that will be my updating-day. I'll aim for Wednesdays or Thursdays, or maybe the weekends.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	44. Chapter 43, A Broken Family

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Hi! I'm back! Sorry I'm a bit late with this, but I've been a bit busy in school and this chapter was a little harder to write than I thought it was gonna be.**

 **Okay, let's get this out of the way right now. Some of you might be thinking, Kame, you wonderful storyteller, where are your (P.O.V)'s? How will we know who tells us what happens? Or you may not... Whatever.**

 **Well, person in my head, I've been thinking about this for a while now, and I've decided to remove the (P.O.V)'s altogether and write the chapters without telling you whose eyes we'll be looking through. Now, I will still write through the character's eyes, but I think that the (P.O.V)'s kinda give away a bit and might give you hints as to what kind of chapter it might be, depending on what the character is going through. Plus, I had those point of view things as a way to remind myself of what character I was writing through, when I was still new to writing stories. And maybe as a way to create my own style of writing. Now I feel they have overstayed their welcome and it's time to bid them adieu.**

 **Do you like it with or without them? Please tell me. And I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 43, A Broken Family

"Yes, Dad, I'm okay. No, the Kraang didn't try to capture me, I'm fine, really." I trudged down the stairs and down to the kitchen with my phone sloppily pressed against my ear and cheek. My hair was unbrushed and I hadn't even bothered to put it in my usual ponytail, my eyes half-shut, and I was trying so hard not to hang up on my dad. He had bombarded me with phone calls and messages all night, and I knew when I woke up that I had to call him back, just to make sure he didn't try to fly back to New York to get me. But now I wasn't too sure if it had been such a good idea. The way he was talking you'd think that I was dying in a cold, desolate alley somewhere.

 _"Are you sure, April? Are you still in the city? Where are you now?"_ I rolled my eyes and turned on the coffee machine and placed a pot of water on the stove to prepare tea for Master Splinter. I took a quick look at the fridge and when I saw we had very little edible food there, I opened the door to go outside and get some eggs from our the chicken coop in the garden. The grass was wet and stiff with snow and ice, but most of it had melted from the rain and the shining sun.

"Yes, I'm fine, Dad. Casey, the guys, Master Splinter and I are at the farmhouse, far away from the city. The Kraang can't hurt us here, I promise you." I made sure not to mention the Foot clan or that Leo had gotten hurt. That would only freak him out even more. I heard him sigh tiredly.

 _"I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with you being out there alone, without an adult to look after you, April. Especially someone who's not family."_ I fought against the urge to groan, put some eggs into a basket and carried it back to the house. 'Note to self: we need to go and find a grocery store later today.'

"Master Splinter is an adult, Dad. And he's a really good parent, you know that. He's treated me like his own daughter since, well, you know, last year. And the guys are here, too. They are part of the family; they will look out for me, you know that. And I've been training in ninjutsu for a little more than year now. I'll be fine." I heard him sigh again and I could practically see him pinch the space between his eyes.

"Well, I guess I can't really argue with that. Just... promise me you'll try and stay out of trouble. Please, April." I sighed and my annoyance ran out of me, and I suddenly remembered how much I missed and loved my dad.

"I promise, Dad. As long as you promise to stay away from New York until the Kraang are gone." He promised and we said a quick goodbye before I hung up. I ran my fingers through my hair and tried to breathe calmly and relieve some of the stress. I hadn't had much time to think about everything that had happened yesterday, due to how much I had tried to help Master Splinter with Leo during the trip or when I had to give Raph directions to the house. But now I really felt the stress and pain catch up with me. What were we gonna do now? After Leo woke up, how long would we stay here? When would we go back? Would Leo even wake up?

I heard the pot on the stove boiling crazily and hurried over to pull it away from the hot plate. I poured the water into a mug and put a chamomile tea bag in there, and left it to cool off a little and let the tea bag flavour the water. After some looking through the cabinets and cupboards, I found the tea cups and poured some tea in one cup, put it and the teapot on a tray and carried it into the living room.

Master Splinter was still sitting beside Leo, in a worn out armchair, all tired eyes and droopy ears. His eyes were locked on Leo, who was still asleep and his breathing was uneven. I almost didn't think he noticed I was there, but then reminded myself that he was a master ninja and dismissed that thought. I had no idea what to say or do, so I just walked up to him and gently put the tray on the coffee table in front of him. He looked up and smiled a tired smile at me and his ears perked up a little.

"Good morning, April." I smiled and knelt down in front of him on the floor, beside the couch.

"Good morning, Sensei. I made you some tea. I hope you like chamomile, it was all I could find." His smile widened slightly in gratitude and he took the cup, gently sipping on the still very hot tea. He hummed in delight and looked down at me.

"Thank you, my child. It is very generous of you to let us stay in your home." His smile faded and he looked a little troubled and his ears drooped again. "I... couldn't help but overhear your conversation with your father." I bit my lip and felt my cheeks get a little warmer. I hadn't even considered that Splinter might hear me when I called my father. Or that anyone at all would be awake when I got up. But I shook that feeling of discomfort off and smiled up at Splinter.

"Of course you can stay here. You and the guys are like my family; you're more than welcome in my home." My eyes fell on Leo and I stroked his leg with my hand. "How's Leo doing?" Splinter looked over his son and his eyes grew worried and his ears drooped.

"He has been unconscious all night. His leg is broken and it seems the muscles around his knee are rather bruised. His wounded side does not look infected, which is good, but he is running a small fever. I fear his spirit is more injured than his body." He sighed and sipped on his tea. "I am thankful that you are doing so much for us, my child. " I looked down at the floor and I fingered a hole in the wooden surface.

"It's the least I can do." I said again and had a hard time looking up at Splinter. "Besides, I feel like I owe it to you. I mean, if it wasn't for me, your family wouldn't be so broken right now." His ears once again perked up when I said that, but this time he looked more concerned than anything else.

"Pardon? What do you mean? Why do you feel responsible for what has happened?" I chewed on my lip and tried my hardest to fight back tears. This had been on my mind for months, ever since Donnie had fallen through that portal and seemingly died. I had even had nightmares about it the first few weeks. I had had Donnie's hand in my grip. I had him in my hands. I could have saved him, or at least kept my grip on him until the guys could have done something to help us get away from the portal or turn it off. But I had let go of him. He slipped out of my hands and I couldn't do anything but watch as he fell through the portal and disappeared. And even though no one had said anything about it, I still felt like it was my fault. I had seen the glares Raph sometimes sent my way, and that was all the proof I needed.

"I..." I sighed and looked up at Splinter."I just feel it was my fault Donnie fell through the portal. I mean, I had him! I could've saved him, I could've done something! But I didn't. I failed him. I failed you, the guys and everyone! I've seen how Raph looks at me, and I know he blames me for it." Master Splinter's eyes widened and I looked down at the floor in shame. Then I felt his hand on my shoulder and it made me look up again.

"April, no one blames you for what happened that day. It wasn't your fault. From what I have been told, there was nothing you could have done to change the outcome. In fact, my sons never once mentioned your name when they told me what happened or said it was your fault, so it is news to me that you feel this way." I blinked away my tears and brushed my hair out of my face, looking down at the floor again.

"B-but why aren't you mad at me? Why? I mean, I could have saved your son! Why are you not mad?" Master Splinter placed one hand under my chin and lifted it so he could look me in the eyes.

"Raphael is not upset with you, my child. He is upset with himself and is trying to find ways to deal with his feelings. He likes to deal with them physically, as you know. But he does not blame you- neither do Michelangelo, Leonardo or I. We know you did everything you could." I shifted my gaze to the legs of a chair.

"Yeah, but I-" I was cut off by the sound of a whimper. Both Splinter and I looked up and towards the couch, where Leo was still lying with his eyes closed. But now he seemed to be having some kind of nightmare. His eyes were tightly shut, he frantically moved his head from side to side and both whimpered and grunted worriedly. Splinter immediately moved closer to Leo and placed his hand on the side of Leo's face. His face was scrunched up in concern for his son.

"His fever is rising. He is most likely having a nightmare because of this." He looked up at me. "April, will you please get me some water and a small towel?" I nodded and ran out into the kitchen, got out a small bowl and filled it with cold water. I then ran into the bottom-floor bathroom and got a small towel from the bathroom cabinet. When I got back to the living room Leo was a little louder and flailing both arms and legs. He seemed to be in some kind of delirious frenzy.

"No, no! Get away! Leave him alone! Stay away from my family!" Splinter had both hands on Leo's shoulders and tried to push him back down on the couch, which proved to be a challenge. Leo was shaking and flailing so much that Splinter had to dodge Leo's limbs while also trying to calm him down.

"Leonardo, you are safe, my son. Calm yourself, you are not in any danger." I kneeled down beside Splinter and handed him the bowl and towel. He grabbed both items without even looking at me and dipped the towel in the cold water before placing it on Leo's warm forehead. Leo jerked wildly when the cold cloth was placed on his head, and for a second it looked like he was trying to shake it off, but it then seemed more like he was still deep in his nightmare. I placed my hand on Leo's cheek and leaned down to whisper in his ear.

"Shh, Leo, it's okay. Everything is okay, calm down. Calm down." His whimpering got a little quieter and it almost sounded like he was crying. I looked up and to my surprise, there were a few small tears running down his cheek.

"Donnie, I'm sorry. Please, I'm sorry. Don't leave us. Please, we need you." My eyes widened and felt a little torn on what to do next. I leaned down and awkwardly placed a kiss on Leo's forehead, hoping it would help.

"Shh, it's okay Leo. Just calm down." I felt Splinter''s hands on my shoulder and he gently pushed me away so he could sit in my spot, close to Leo's head. He gently placed an arm around Leo's shoulders and lifted him into a sitting position. Leo tried to fight back but his injured leg was seriously making things worse and he yelled in pain when he tried to kick at Splinter. Splinter hugged Leo close to his side and gently and affectionately rubbed the back of Leo's head.

"It is alright, my son, please do not try to fight us. We are your family and we want to help you." He grabbed his cup of tea and brought it to Leo's lips. "Here, drink this." Leo first tried to move his head from side to side to avoid the cup, but eventually decided to stop fighting and let Splinter help him sip some of the tea without much struggle. And whether it was because chamomile was calming or because of something else, Leo stopped fighting and whimpering and eventually fell back asleep against Splinter's shoulder. He nuzzled his head into the crook of Splinter's neck and buried his face in his fur. Splinter smiled both affectionately and sadly at his son and hugged him close to his chest and I could see a few tears running down his face and disappearing into his fur. I sneaked out of the living room and closed the door behind me, as quietly as I could. I sighed and leaned against the door for a second before slipping back into the kitchen.

With mostly eggs and coffee and tea as fresh food, there was not much we could have for breakfast. I knew I could make some scrambled eggs, but not much else. I would have to take Casey and go shopping later today, but I felt pretty happy about having chickens at this moment. But my mind was still on Leo and his words.

 _'Donnie, I'm sorry. Please, I'm sorry. Don't leave us. Please, we need you.'_

I sighed and poured some salt into the eggs. Poor Leo. I hadn't seen much of Leo since the horrible accident, but since he had come home to me with that photo album, I had gotten the strong indication that he was beating himself up like crazy. Not only for the accident and how he couldn't do anything to help Donnie in that moment, but for feeling like he had neglected Donnie and not showed him how much he really loved him. And now, knowing that the reason that Donnie is gone was because of Karai and her lust for revenge... I sighed and poured the eggs into the frying pan. Poor, poor Leo.

I heard a yawn and looked over my shoulder and saw Mikey standing in the door, stretching his arms over his head and yawning so widely that I almost thought he was gonna dislocate his jaw. I smiled at him and waved.

"Morning, Mikey. How did you sleep?" He walked up to the kitchen table and sat down. He smiled tiredly at me, but he seemed to have his thoughts someplace else.

"Mornin' April! I slept like a baby last night. Well, I would have, if Casey hadn't snored like a chainsaw beside me!" I giggled at him and took some plates out of a cabinet and some utensils out of the silverware drawer.

"Well, I'm glad you managed to sleep at all under those conditions." I scooped some scrambled eggs onto two plates and walked over to Mikey, placed one plate in front of him and the other at the seat in front of him. I sat down and brushed some hair out of my face. Mikey smiled back and grabbed his fork.

"Thanks, April!" He immediately started eating and it went so fast I had a strong feeling that he didn't chew. I shook my head with a small smile and started to eat my own food. After a few minutes of silence, he looked up and looked pretty serious. Well, serious for Mikey, anyway.

"How's Leo doing?" I swallowed some eggs and bit my lip, trying to figure out what to say. I didn't want to sugarcoat it, but I didn't want to scare or discourage him either. Eventually I sighed and looked Mikey straight in the eyes.

"He has a broken leg and his side is bandaged and for now it doesn't look like he has any infections. But he has a high fever and seems to be a bit delusional. He had a pretty bad nightmare not too long ago." Mikey's eyes fell and he looked down at his mostly empty plate. He was clearly upset, so I reached out and placed my hand over his. "But I'm sure he'll be okay. I mean, it's just a fever and a broken leg. He has no internal bleeding or anything like that. He'll bounce back, don't worry." Mikey didn't look up and just kept his eyes down in the plate.

"We're broken, aren't we?" My eyes widened and I gripped his hand in mine.

"No." I paused and looked to the side, admitting, "well, maybe a little." Then I looked down at the table. "Maybe a lot." I sighed and looked up at Mikey. He tried to be strong and keep himself together and I knew he had a lot of emotions that wanted to come out. I gripped his hand a little tighter.

"Mikey, everything is gonna be okay. Leo's tough; he'll pull through. He always does. And I bet we'll take the city back in only a few months. You know, after Leo's wounds heal. But after that, we'll kick the Kraang's butts back to Dimension X, and make them stay there!" Mikey looked up at me with blank eyes for a second, when a new voice suddenly joined the conversation.

"Listen to her, Mikey. She has the right spirit, you know." We both looked up to see Raph, sloppily tying his mask around his face and looking pretty tired. He walked up to us and placed his arm around Mikey's shoulders and rubbed his knuckles against the side of Mikey's head. "We're not gonna take this lying down, are we? We're too tough for that, am I right?" Mikey looked pretty confused for a second as he looked up at Raph, then smirked a little with a raised eyebrow.

"Dude, since when are you the optimistic one? I thought that was _my_ job." Raph smirked back and ruffled Mikey's mask tails.

"Well, if you can joke then you're okay. Come on, bro, get your head out of your shell!" He turned to look at me and folded his arms over his chest. "Left any food for the rest of us? I'm starving!" I pointed over to the stove with my thumb and glared good-naturedly at him.

"Over at the stove, tough guy." Raph walked over to get some food for himself and I got up to get a plate ready for Master Splinter. I had no idea how the guys could still keep their spirit up after having gone through so much in such a little time, but I was happy for that. It meant that they hadn't given up yet, and that warmed my heart. But still, I couldn't help but wonder where we were gonna go from this. Forward I guess, but I had a feeling it wasn't gonna be an easy road for us.

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 **A/N: Okay, this took more time than I had planned it would, but now it's up! And tell me, do you think I should keep writing like this, or do you want the (P.O.V)'s? Personally I like this and I will most likely keep it, and practise writing from no one's P.O.V too, but I'd still like to know what you think.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	45. Chapter 44, Adjusting to Farm Life

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Merry Christmas, everybody! Or God Jul, as we say here in Sweden. I hope you'll have a wonderful holiday! I want to take a moment to thank you all for sticking with the story and reviewing, favouriting and following- it makes me so happy! I also want to give a special thank you to CJtheStoryteller and Joanne N. Grey, who have been giving me reviews for almost every chapter for the last few months. Thank you, guys! Your kind words make this so much more fun than it already is!**

 **Also, I'm gonna do something I don't normally do. I'm gonna answer a few reviewers, mostly because they are anonymous, and I can't answer through PM. So, first, to the reviewer Greninja: I'm glad for your suggestion- I have an idea like that in mind for the future. Not _exactly_ like what you're saying, but it's still close to it, really.**

 **Next, to the reviewer, Skylar Skylark: thank you for your idea, but as it is, it's hard enough to write with six characters who share the same living space and give them all equal time to shine. So thank you for your character, and maybe in the future I can squeeze her into the story, but I can't make any promises. But thank you anyway.**

 **Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 44, Adjusting to Farm Life

The best way to describe today was slow. 'Cause that's what it was. Every second seemed to drag by at a snail's pace. And there wasn't that much to do around here anyway. After April had gone upstairs and dragged Casey out of bed and forced him to eat breakfast, she had taken him to go check out the nearest town to see if they could find any food and resources, since there wasn't much in the house. At least nothing that was fresh. She was obviously eager to get out and get supplies, and almost tried to push Casey along so they could get it over with. But Casey had tried to ask her, in an attempt to get out of helping,

"But do we even have any money? I didn't think of bringing any cash, and I don't think the guys or Splinter did either." But April just shrugged and waved him off with a small smile.

"No sweat, I thought about it in advance. Also part of a reason I wanted to swing by my apartment before we left." She grabbed her bag and dug out her wallet, producing a small, plastic credit card from one of the pockets. "My dad gave me this for my last birthday. In case of emergencies. And I'd say being stuck out here for who knows how long, in a house with six people, is definitely an emergency. In case Dad gets mad I can always get a job after we save New York and pay him back, but I doubt he'll be that mad about it." And it was pretty hard to argue with that.

And with them gone, we just didn't know what to do. Mikey's first instinct was trying to drag me outside so we could check out the forest, the lawn and the chickens that were cooped up inside their little pen. But Master Splinter had forbidden him from going out, partly because there was still some snow covering the grass and it was pretty cold outside, and with us being cold blooded (well, warm blooded technically but with a much lower normal temperature, according to Donnie), it wasn't exactly a good idea to go out when it was still cold enough to be snowing outside. Another reason was that he wanted us to stay close for now, since we didn't know if there were any people living close to us, or roaming through those woods right now.

"We just arrived here yesterday, my sons. We do not yet know much about how many people live around here." Mikey had tried to convince him to let him go, and tried to tell him that April had told us that no one lived close to us and that we'd be safe. But Master Splinter had remained firm and just stated that he wasn't willing to take the risk. He said that April and her family hadn't stayed in this house for years, and things might have changed since she was here last.

So we were all sitting in the living room and trying to entertain ourselves. Mikey was scrolling through the channels on the old TV and eventually stopped on a channel that showed some stupid-looking cartoon with a He-Man looking character running around with a big sword in his hand. I rolled my eyes at the stupidity of the cartoon, but Mikey was eating it all up with a big smile on his face and with big eyes.

"Dude, this show is awesome! Crognard is the best show since Super Robo Mecha Force! Come on, watch with me, bro!" I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help but smile at Mikey and his enthusiasm. Mikey had been so down in the dumps the last three months and we had rarely seen him smile or heard him talk, so it was really nice to see him finally act more like his old self again.

"Nah, I think I'll pass, bro. Maybe later." Mikey shrugged and turned back to the TV, where he was lying on the floor on his stomach and his feet in the air. Master Splinter shook his head at him with a soft smile and turned to look over Leo. His fever had apparently gone down enough so we wouldn't have to worry, but he still refused to wake up. I was standing on my knees, my arms folded on the back of the couch, and looked over my brother. He looked pretty peaceful right now, but April had told me that he'd had a nightmare earlier this morning, so he may not be as peaceful as he looked.

"He _is_ gonna wake up, right, Sensei?" Master Splinter sighed and stroked his hand over Leo's forehead. Leo stirred a little, but showed very little movement aside from that.

"It is just a broken leg, and his injuries are not severe enough to be life-threatening. I'm sure he will wake up soon. But his injuries may take some time to heal, and his spirit may also need some healing." Mikey looked over his shoulder, and for the first time over the last hour his focus was not on the TV. He turned down the volume a little and kneeled down close to Leo's head. He grabbed Leo's hand and nuzzled his face against it.

"Come on, Leo. You can wake up now. Shredder and his freaky dudes are gone- we're safe now. You gotta wake up!" He pressed Leo's hand against the side of his face and looked down on Leo's still body with big, puppy-dog eyes. Splinter placed an arm around Mikey's shoulders and hugged him against his side.

"We must be patient, Michelangelo. Your brother is strong, but he needs to heal in his own time. Do not worry, he will wake up. But maybe not today." Mikey looked down at the floor, nodded and let go of Leo's hand. He leaned into Splinter's embrace for a second and then turned around to look at his cartoon again. But he kept the volume down this time and didn't look quite as invested as he had been before. But after about five minutes he started get into it again.

I looked down on Leo and his bandaged leg. A broken leg wasn't too bad, speaking from my own experience and after having gone through a lot of injuries in my life, either from sparring sessions or from a real battle. I mean, it wasn't exactly anything good, but considering what could have happened, it was better than several of the alternatives. I mean, Karai might have gone an extra mile and tried to cut Leo's leg off altogether. Though it may have taken a while with her tanto. I stroked Leo's uninjured leg and sighed.

"Rest easy, pal. You'll get better. I know you will." I got up and walked over to an armchair placed close to the fireplace and sat down. I took my T-Phone out of my belt and tapped into the phone's album and looked over all the pictures I had in there. Not that many, really. I wasn't exactly a photographer, and there was very little that I thought was worth having pictures of. But there were a few there, and most of them were of my family, a lot of them in stupid or embarrassing situations. You know, in case a situation where blackmail might be needed were to arise. My eyes fell on one of these kinds of pics; I tapped on it and the picture filled the whole screen. A picture of Donnie in his lab.

It hadn't exactly been uncommon for Donnie to fall asleep in his lab instead of his room, and it had become more and more common when he was working on that retro-mutagen for April's dad. And one night Leo and Mikey thought it was my turn to drag the brainiac to his bed, without consulting me, of course. And when I walked in there I had found him asleep with his face in one of his notebooks and his cheek pressed against a page like it was his pillow. He also had his elbow on the desk, his arm in the air and a pen in his hand which he somehow had managed to not drop when he fell asleep, and his other hand was placed under his cheek to support his head.

I had at the time found the scene hilarious and couldn't help but take a picture of him before I had carried him off to his room. And when I showed it to Leo and Mikey, they had also found it pretty funny. But now the only laugh that came over my lips was a small, fond little chuckle. In a way he looked kinda adorable- in a geeky kinda way, but still. He was always trying so hard to act like an adult and like he was so mature because he was so smart, so when he slept it was the only time you could really see him look innocent and childlike. He looked so relaxed and careless, despite lying in a very uncomfortable-looking position. I felt my eyes get warmer and a few tears forming in the corners of my eyes. I blinked hard and wiped my eyes with my arm, hoping that neither Mikey nor Splinter saw me, and put my phone away.

 _'Donnie, where are you? Why haven't you tried to contact us? I know you most likely hate me after everything I've said and done to you over the years, but I know that you care about Mikey, April and Splinter. So why haven't you done anything to reassure them that you're okay?'_

I sighed and leaned my head against the back of the chair and closed my eyes, trying to kill the tears that wanted to slip out from between my eyelids.

After sitting and trying to breathe calmly for a few minutes, I took Donnie's journal from my belt and looked down at the cover. I hesitated for a second and looked up at Splinter and Mikey to see what they were doing. But Splinter had his eyes locked on Leo, and Mikey was glued to the TV. I took a deep breath and opened the journal, flipping to the page I had skimmed through a little before we left New York.

 _Journal Entry: April 20th, 2014_

 _Well, this day certainly could have gone a whole lot better. I don't know how many times I've told myself to start listening to Master Splinter more and take his advice to heart, but tonight I really feel like it cost a lot more than it should have._

 _The Kraang are back in the city and they tried to ship cargo of some sorts to, I guess, TCRI, and when we found out, we tried to stop it. And we failed- miserably._

 _The cargo, which of course turned out to be mutagen, was spilled all over the city and- on top of that- April's dad was hit by one of the canisters. And what's worse- when April found out that we were largely responsible for that, she was furious. I have never seen such hate in her eyes, and the fact that it was directed towards us felt horrible, to say the very least. She said she never wanted to see us again and ran off._

 _I hate to make this about me, 'cause I feel terrible for April and her father, but I don't think she realized how she broke my heart. I mean, I'm sure she blames all of us for what happened, but why did she have to look directly at me when she said she never wanted to see us again? Ugh, I don't know, I'm probably thinking too much about my own feelings when April's the real victim here, but still. I mean, I can't help that I have feelings, right?_

 _And I don't exactly blame April. I mean, if I found out my best friends were responsible for something terrible that affected my family, I would be a little ticked off too. Still, couldn't she have looked directly at Mikey when she said it? I mean, he's the one who kicked that Kraang so if flew across the ship and hit that button that opened the hatch in the floor! It was more his fault than anyone else's. And Raph and Leo hit the wall so all the canisters fell out, but it wouldn't have been a big deal if it wasn't for Mikey. Why do I always have to pay or take responsibility for Mikey's irresponsibility? You would think he'd learn after having messed up so many times and learn to try and take responsibility for the things he did, but every single time he either tried to put the blame on someone else, or hide from the responsibility. But of course, I get the blame. 'Cause I always get the blame for everything. Oh, something bad or inconvenient happened? Why didn't you figure it could happen, Donnie? Why didn't you calculate for every possible outcome, so that no matter what happens, we will still succeed? As if I have the ability to see the future, or can foresee every possible thing that could happen or go wrong. Last time I checked, it was Leo's job to lead us and make sure the mission runs smoothly, not mine! But, hey, just because I happen to be smart, that means I am the only one with a brain in between his ears!_

 _… No, I don't mean that. I can't mean that. I'm guess I should be kind of glad that April seems to hate me the most... I wouldn't wish what I'm feeling right now on anyone else, much less my own brothers. Mikey is my only little brother, and here I am bad talking about him and blaming him for my own failures, wishing he was the one who knew what it felt like to be loathed by someone who was practically family. I'm a horrible big brother. I'm so glad Leo's the oldest. If I were, I'd fail all three of them as an elder. Why am I insulting Leo? He's probably got a much harder job than me. I'm just as guilty of expecting him to come up with perfect solutions. I have no right to talk. And Raph is more capable in battle than me, so he takes out more enemies than I ever will; I have no right to complain about something he did when his mistakes are still better than my getting it right._

 _Ugh... I mean, seriously, What is wrong with me? Here we just screwed up so badly it has hurt our best friend in the worst way possible and New York has mutagen canisters all over, and here I am, complaining about being held responsible for said screw-up. I seriously need to get my head out of my shell and focus on what's important right now; finding those canisters and finding a cure for mutations so we can help April's dad, and everyone else who gets affected. I should probably get to work on that right away, not sit here like a lazy bum and feel sorry for myself._

I looked up from the journal and stared out into space without seeing anything. So even when he wrote the journal to try and let out his frustrations, he still tried to reign his emotions back in and put others above himself. I mean, I knew he always did that, it was part of who Donnie was and he was incredibly selfless. But I never thought he was so considerate and caring towards others that he didn't allow himself to feel upset or vent out his emotions. I mean, he had always been like that, but this much? Even in private? How had I not noticed that?

Donnie had, for as long as I can remember, been a guy that tried to hold back his emotions and keep them on a tight leash. Even as a kid he always tried to act like he wasn't bothered by Mikey messing up an experiment, Leo not listening to him, or me pushing him around. And speaking as a guy who more or less wore a lot of his emotions on his sleeve, and who lashes out at anyone who tries to push me around or wrong me in any way, it just seemed really unhealthy to do that. But he never seemed to want to open up to us or anyone that was supposed to be someone he could trust. But I had never thought that he kept on such a tight leash, even to himself and his own thoughts. I guess he cared so much about others that the slightest little selfish thought made him feel guilty about it.

I bit my lip. Now, again, I'm speaking as someone who doesn't believe in holding back your emotions; I always acted out on them in one form or another; either by talking to Spike (which wasn't much of an option anymore, but still) or by blowing off steam by sparring, beating up bad guys or the practice dummy. I have no idea how people like Leo or Donnie can seemingly let an insult roll off their backs like it was nothing, like it didn't bother them, and in a way I envied them for that ability. Well, Leo seemed to not let it bother him that much. Donnie, on the other hand, I didn't know. For so long I had thought that he was like Leo and insults or rude comments didn't bother him, but now I wasn't sure anymore. After reading this page alone I was starting to have second thoughts about how I saw Donnie. And if I was right and Donnie kept his emotions, feelings, frustrations and stress buried deep down in himself, then he must have a seriously unhealthy habit.

"We're back!" I jumped and immediately put the journal back in my belt before anyone could see it and looked at the door. April came in with a big paper bag in her arms. She smiled at me and nodded her head at the door. "Hey, Raph, do you think you and Mikey could help us carry the stuff inside?" I got out of the chair and Mikey followed me out the door and outside, passing Casey as he walked back inside.

The cold air was a bit of a shock. I mean, I had experienced the colder seasons before, but as the years had passed and Donnie had gotten better with electronics, he had fixed a few heaters just in case of especially cold winters. But still, it was a bit much, since we had been inside a warm house for almost a day now.

Mikey also felt it, and was pretty loud about it.

"Oh, oh! It's so cold out here, man! I can't go out there, I'll turn into a turtcicle!" I rolled my eyes and smacked him upside the head.

"C'mon, Shellbrain. Ya won't die from a small walk back and forth between the Shellraiser and the house. Now get moving before your feet get frozen to the porch." His eyes widened and I smirked, turning and heading for the Shellraiser.

"That can't happen, right? You were joking, right, Raphie? Raph? Raph! Does that really happen?" Mikey called frantically, quickly moving to follow me and swiftly pulling a few bags into his arms and urging me to hurry. In response I rolled my eyes at him, and, getting the hint, he pouted at me. "You're a big liar, Raph." He whined, probably mad I'd tricked him yet again, and suddenly my mood was greatly improved.

There wasn't much complaining afterwards, as we went back out to get the last few bags, but he did groan dramatically as he followed behind me. I rolled my eyes again, even though he couldn't see it. I was starting to think that Mikey starting to act like himself again may not be as good as I thought it would be.

When we got back inside, April was already busy putting the food away in the refrigerator, the freezer or one of the three wide-opened cupboards. In the corner of my eye I saw Casey walk out the bathroom and up the stairs with a plastic bag of toilet paper and some soap and shampoo under his arms, so I guess April had put him on bathroom duty. She smiled as we placed the remaining paper bags on the table.

"Thanks, guys." She turned to Mikey and gave him a loaf of bread. "Mikey, can you put the canned foods, the cereal and all that stuff in those cupboards? And I want it to be organized. Don't put the stuff in there randomly." Mikey gave her a salute and put the loaf of bread over his shoulder like a rifle and gave her a goofy grin.

"Yes ma'am! Your wish is our command!" She shook her head and rolled her eyes with a tolerant smile and bonked him on the head with cucumber.

"Right over there, wise guy." She pointed to the pantry with the cucumber and Mikey hurried over with the bread, a cereal box, a few cans of food and a package of spaghetti in his arms. April turned to me and pointed to the fridge.

"Raph, you can put the stuff that needs to stay frozen in the freezer. There's not that much space in there, since Ice Cream Kitty lives there, so don't just throw it all in there." I pretended to look offended and placed a hand to my chest.

"Me? What kind of guy do you take me for?" April just looked at me with raised eyebrow and a cocky smile and handed me a bag of frozen peas. I walked up to the freezer and opened the door. I was immediately greeted by Ice Cream Kitty and her usual happy, greeting meow. I was about to put the peas beside her, but she grabbed the bag the second after I put them down and she placed them in the back on the fridge and turned back to me, as if she expected me to have more stuff to put in her home. I walked over the table and grabbed the rest of the frozen food- some beef, some pizzas, some vegetables and fruit and a few packages of ice cream. I was not allowed to place the stuff there as I pleased, 'cause Ice Cream Kitty took each item and placed it very carefully and neatly so it fit her the way she wanted it. Quite the interior decorator, it seemed.

"Picky cat," I muttered and closed the fridge door. I turned to look at the others and it seemed they were almost done, too. Mikey put away some more bread, spaghetti, a few bags of chips and some spices in the last cupboard and closed it, just as April put the packages of milk and the butter in the fridge. As she closed the refrigerator door, she leaned against it and let out a heavy sigh.

"Finally, we're done." She muttered and walked up to the table and and started to fold the paper bags so she could recycle them later. "You wouldn't believe how hard it was to find the town from here, and when we got there we had to find somewhere to park the Shellraiser where no one could find it. I mean, it's not exactly a normal vehicle to drive around in, right?" She didn't wait for us to answer that question. "And the grocery store was so crowded. Like, who goes shopping for food this early on a regular Tuesday?" Mikey moved up behind her and started to massage her shoulders.

"Mm, you just take it easy, honey. All that stress is just not healthy! It's just not good for your complexion. Plus you'll get wrinkles by the time you're twenty. You just relax and let us manly men handle that hard business while you go take a bath upstairs and just relax." He put on a ridiculous over-the-top feminine voice, like he was a woman working at a spa or something and like he knew what he was talking about, but it was clear he was both trying to help and make her laugh. And I'd say he succeeded with both. April let out a giggle and gently pushed Mikey's hands over her shoulders. He smiled back and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"But seriously, you go an relax, take a bath, read a book or do something else, while I get started on dinner? We'll get ya when it's done, 'kay?" She smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, a bath sounds pretty good right now. Thanks, Mikey. Just... don't hesitate to call me if there's a problem." She started to walk up the stairs, but then stopped and looked back at us. "And I mean call me on my phone. I do not want you to come in while I'm bathing, okay?" She didn't need to convince us. Neither I nor Mikey had any plans on walking into that bathroom while April was trying to relax in the bathtub. Without clothes.

But, with that said, Mikey grabbed the chicken fillets that were still lying on the kitchen counter and started to cut them up into six pieces and prepare for dinner, just like he said he would. He turned to look at me over his shoulder and waved at me with the knife.

"You go and do something somewhere else, dude. You're not allowed anywhere near the stove!" I raised my hands defensively with a smirk and backed out of the kitchen, closing the door after me. I wasn't exactly good at cooking, and I didn't even enjoy cooking or doing stuff in the kitchen. But I understood where Mikey was coming from. Ever since he had seen how much we messed up the kitchen while trying to make breakfast the day he got 'shell-acne,' he had pretty much banned us from trying to cook again. Not that I mind. It just means less work for us.

I peeked into the living room and over at Leo, who still didn't show any signs of waking up. But this time he seemed to be either having another nightmare or was in pain, because he was whimpering a little and shifting around on the couch, so the blanket Splinter had placed over him almost fell off. Splinter stroked his forehead and kept his hand in a gentle but still strong grip.

"It is alright, my son. You are safe. Everything is going to be fine." I looked down at the floor, sighed and walked up the stairs and to the guest room. I sat down on the bed and leaned my head back against the wall and sighed heavily. I clenched my fists and closed my eyes as tightly as I could.

Mikey was right. We were broken. But not broken beyond repair. Casey and April tried to remain helpful and optimistic for us, and Splinter did his best to be there for us, while also trying to move on with his grief himself. And while Mikey had had a very hard time to move past his own grief, he was trying to act as normal as he could now that Leo was out. And right now, my family needed me to be strong for them. At least until Donnie came home and we could save the city. Hopefully he would come before we went back; we really needed him to save New York. We needed him so we could be a whole team again. And we needed him before our family fell apart.

I grabbed the small bag I had brought with me from home and dug out a small picture. It was a family picture- well, minus me and Splinter. The one that Slash had, well, slashed when he had gotten himself mutated and tried to take out my brothers. I still hadn't entirely forgiven him for that. But thankfully Donnie had been able to get me a new one, that wasn't damaged. Like I said, I didn't keep many pictures of anything, especially not my family, but I had a few lying around, both on my phone and at home. And I felt the need to at least bring one or two pictures of them, in case there would be nothing left of the lair when we got back.

Anyway, I was needed here, for my family. I had to put my focus on the guys and how they were doing now, and not so much of my feelings and what I believed in. These guys needed me to lean on and to be their rock. I looked down at the picture of Mikey, Leo and Donnie and looked specifically at Donnie.

"I'm sorry, Donnie, but I need to be here for our family now. They need me right now, and I can't let them down. You understand, right?" Of course the picture didn't answer me, but it still felt like there were no hard feelings between us. I smiled and put the picture down on the bedside table and tucked Donnie's journal in a drawer. And just to be safe, I placed a book over it, so nobody would accidentally find it. After that, I walked out of the room and down to the living room to wait for dinner.

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April had taken a pretty long bath. She didn't come out of the bathroom after, like, a little more than an hour, and she almost looked like she had been sleeping a little. So that left the rest of us to prepare dinner and clean up after her and Casey's trip to the town. Not that anyone minded; we all knew how stressed she must be after everything that had happened. And besides, it was her house we were staying in, so it only made sense that we payed her back somehow. I mean, she would most likely say that it wasn't necessary, but still.

Raph had at first offered to help me chop salad, but when I had insisted that I could do it myself, he had chosen to help me to set the table instead while I kept an eye on the chicken and the rice. After he was done with that he went outside to get some firewood. It was in the middle of September now, and it was getting dark outside much earlier now, and on top of that it was really getting cold, both inside and outside the house. Casey was sitting at the table and seemed to be writing something on a notepad. Though he didn't seem that into it and would let out an impatient sigh or groan every now and then. He rested his face in his hand, his elbow on the table and stared down at the paper in front of him with angry and tired eyes. I debated whether I should ask him or not, but then smelt something burnt and checked over the chicken before it burnt completely.

Raph came back through the door with his arms full of logs, so many that I couldn't see his face. Well, almost anyway. He staggered over to the fireplace and placed the firewood in the basket beside the fireplace. Not very gracefully; they all just landed in a big heap, all higgledy-piggledy. He shuddered and rubbed his hands together in front of the fire to try and warm them.

"It's freezing out there! Isn't it still supposed to be late summer? What's with the cold and the snow?" He sounded cranky, which normally didn't concern me that much, since he always sounded like he was in a bad mood, but for now it felt good to hear Raph sound like himself and not all depressed. Casey looked up from the paper for a second, then looked back down again and sighed.

"Guess it's an early winter this year." Raph groaned and rolled his eyes even though Casey couldn't see it and walked over to the kitchen, throwing off the scarf he had, ahem, 'borrowed' from Casey when he went outside, and threw it up on the hatrack as he passed the hallway.

"Yeah? Well, if it keeps up like this we may not be able to train for some time. At least not outside." I looked over at the living room, as much as I could from the stove, anyway, and wondered if Splinter could hear him. But Splinter's attention had been on Leo all day, so even if he did, he probably didn't care that much. Not right now, anyway. Raph sat down at the table and rested his face in his hands.

"Ugh, I'm starving. How long 'til dinner's done, Mikey?" I turned down the plate so the chicken would stay warm while the rice finished boiling, and checked the sauce.

"It should be done any minute now. Somebody should probably go and tell April to come down to eat soon." Raph muttered 'I'll do it', and grabbed his phone to send her a text message. Casey looked up at Raph and for a second I thought he looked angry. No, not angry. Only a little, but it didn't really fit. I had only seen the that expression on Donnie's face when-... Casey was talking or looking at April. I shook my head. Nah, April and Casey weren't- I mean, if they were, they would tell us, right? Yeah, they totally would! I mean, Casey had liked April as much as Donnie had, so of course he would look jealous even if they were together. Which they weren't.

Raph didn't notice Casey's small glare, and Casey looked down into the papers again and scribbled a little at the bottom of the page. He sighed loudly, which made Raph look up and roll his eyes in annoyance.

"Can you keep it down? If you think listening to you sounding bored and tired is helping the rest of us feel less bored, then you are sadly mistaken." Casey looked up and glared at Raph, and this time he was clearly annoyed and frustrated.

"Hey, do you wanna take over? Because if so, please, be my guest! I'd like to see you do better!" Raph glared back at him, then looked down at the paper in front of Casey and stood up to get a better look at it.

"What are you doing, anyway?" Casey sighed and again and dropped the pen he still had in his hand.

"April put me on economy duty. It's my job to put together how much we might need of everything, like food and toiletries, and put together a budget for us. April says it would make things easier if we know how much we spend every time to we go to store." He groaned and placed his face in one hand. "Only problem is that I'm not good at this kind of stuff. Casey Jones and numbers don't go together." I probably should have felt sorry for him, but I didn't. I couldn't stop myself from laughing at him.

"Haha! Dude, you totally got the short stick!" Casey looked at me with eyelids at half mast.

"Short end of the stick, Mikey," he corrected, unamused. I shrugged and stirred the sauce with a spoon.

"If you prefer that." He half-glared at me and then turned back to his papers. Raph smirked and leaned back on his chair, folding his arms behind his head and resting one foot on his knee.

"Yeah, Case, Mikey's got a point. Figures that April would stick you with the job you suck at." Casey just rolled eyes and tried to ignore us, but I could still see he wanted to punch both of us. I laughed again

"Yeah. You know, Donnie said that-" I cut myself off and pressed my lips together and turned back to the stove. No, don't think about it. Not now. The last thing the guys needed now was to feel sad again. But both Raph and Casey looked at me now, all other thoughts and feelings forgotten. Raph sat up straight and Casey pushed his stuff aside.

"What did Donnie say?" I shrugged and turned the stove off and poured the water into the pot of rice.

"Eh, nothing. It's not important." I could feel their looks on the back of my neck and tried my best to ignore them. Thinking about Donnie was the last thing they needed right now. Raph especially.

April came into the kitchen and yawned loudly, making her presence known. She was just dressed in her black leggings, a pair of cozy socks and an oversized sweater. Her hair was down and still wet from her bath and she hadn't bothered to put it in a ponytail. She stretched her arms over her head and yawned again.

"Man, I think I fell asleep in the bathtub for a second. I really needed to just relax." She looked up at me and smiled when she saw that dinner was ready to be placed on the table. "Thanks, Mikey. I really appreciate this." I smiled and placed the chicken on the table.

"No problemo, Ape. It is my pleasure to please the lady of the house." I tried my best at a formal British accent and bowed before her. She smiled and rolled her eyes at me, but I could hear a teeny, tiny little laugh come out of her mouth, so I claimed it as a victory. Master Splinter came into the kitchen too, sniffed the air and smiled.

"It smells delicious, my son. You did all of this by yourself?" I nodded with a big smile. He smiled and placed an arm around my shoulders. "I'm so proud of you, my son." I smiled wider, then let it fall off my face and looked towards the living room.

"How's Leo doing?" Splinter's smile turned into a sad frown and he turned to look over his shoulder, sighed and then turned back to us.

"There has been no change as of yet. His fever has dropped and he sleeps better, with very few interruptions. But he still shows no signs of waking up." My face fell and I looked down at the floor. I looked up when I felt April's hand on my shoulder and I smiled at her. But it was a weak one.

Dinner was a pretty quiet event. No one knew what to say or do to lift the mood or even strike up a conversation. The only sound that was heard was the sound of kitchen utensils against plates. Master Splinter sat there like a statue and showed very little emotion. April eyed us all uneasily, as if she was nervous or scared that we were gonna start fighting or something and Raph and Casey stared down at their plates without looking up for more than a few seconds. I wracked my brain and tried to come up with something funny to say to lighten the mood, but couldn't think of anything. I cursed my brain for that. The silence was unbearable and I knew that a good joke would be a great ice breaker, but I couldn't think of a good one. Raph looked up for a second and looked to the right, then the left and then slammed his fork down on the table, loud enough to get everybody's attention.

"So, what's the plan here, anyway? I mean, we stay here until Leo's recovered and until we're ready to take down the Kraang, I get that. But what are we gonna do until then? Just sit around?" Splinter took a deep breath and his eyes were closed tightly. Then he opened his eyes after a second and looked directly at Raph.

"Raphael, we arrived here only yesterday. As for now we simply wait for your brother to wake up and help him recover from his injuries. There is not much else we can do for now. It's too cold outside to train and there's not enough space to do it in here. And I do not want you boys to leave this house while it's cold enough to snow outside. I don't want to take any risks of you getting sick or hurt because of the cold." Raph sighed heavily and stuffed a tomato in his mouth.

"But, Sensei, we can't just sit here and do nothing! The Kraang are ripping the city apart, there's nothing on the news and no one gets in or out! We have to do something!" Master Splinter narrowed his eyes at Raph.

"Raphael, that is enough!" Raph shrank back in his seat but didn't lose his angry glare. I glanced at April and Casey, who also looked pretty uncomfortable because of the almost-argument. Raph opened his mouth to yell back at Sensei, but I wouldn't have it. I slammed my own utensils down and stood up, looking straight at both Splinter and Raph.

"Will you just knock it off! Both of you. I was hoping for a nice dinner without any fighting or people feeling down so we could feel like a good family for once! But apparently that's too much to ask for, huh?" I didn't wait for them to respond; I left the kitchen table and ran up the stairs. I heard April and Splinter call out after me, but I just went straight into the room Casey and I shared and sat down on the bed. I hugged my pillow close to my chest and buried my face into it, letting out a loud, muffled yell. When I felt done, I leaned back against the wall and sighed heavily.

April had said before that maybe we were a little broken, but right now, it felt like it was much more than a little broken. How were we gonna go back to the family we used to be? Raph was obviously still messed up from what happened to Donnie, Leo was hurt and I... well, I tried to keep my spirits up, but it wasn't easy. First Donnie, then Leatherhead and now Leo. Who would be next? How many more nightmares would I have of people close to me dying or going away? And how could I rely on my family to help me through it when they were still going through a lot of rough stuff themselves?

I reached down into my belt and pulled out the photo of me and Donnie. The smiles on both of our faces was close to bringing me to tears, but I fought back against them. I refused to let them fall this time. Still, I couldn't deny that I missed my big brother. He always knew what to say to make me feel better, no matter how I was feeling.

I heard a soft knock on the door but I didn't look up. The door opened gently and in the corner of my eye I could see Raph walk in through the door, very hesitantly, a bowl in his hand. He looked at me with sorry but unsure eyes and closed the door behind him. He walked up to me and stopped about two feet away from the bed.

"Hey, Mikey." I still didn't want to look up at him and kept my eyes locked on the photo, the pillow still pressed to my chest. Raph looked around a little and his grip on the bowl tightened slightly. "Um, April bought some ice cream for us. For dessert, you know. I... I thought you might want some." I still didn't look up at him and fingered the slightly crumbled photo.

"We are broken, aren't we, Raph?" I repeated the question I had asked April this morning, but this time I wanted an honest answer. I looked up at him and stared him straight in the eyes. "Aren't we?" Raph's eyes widened and put the bowl aside on the bedside table and kneeled down beside the bed.

"No, Mikey, we're not. We're just... you know, a little fractured. That's all. Nothing that can't be fixed. We'll recover, just like we always do." I looked away and down at the floor.

"Not from anything like this." I looked back at the photo and once again had to fight back my tears. And Raph saw that. He climbed up beside me on the bed and wrapped his arm around my shoulders and looked at the photo of me and Donnie. I saw a smile tug on his lips and he rested his chin on my shoulder.

"Mikey, what were you going to say before? You know, what Donnie had said to you?" I bit my lip and blinked again to fight back the tears. I took a deep breath and leaned into Raph's hold on me.

"He... he told me once that the surest sign that you're speaking to a true fighter is that he takes whatever challenges that get thrown his way and does the best he can, and doesn't run away from a chance to get better. I dunno, I just thought of that when all Casey did was groan and m*** over trying to figure out the numbers and our budget." Raph smirked but I could see he was also trying to fight back his feelings.

"Yeah. Donnie was always more of a fighter than he might have believed. He was always putting a hundred and ten percent into everything he did, even if he wasn't always very good at it." I nodded and rested my head on Raph's shoulder. His grip around my shoulders tightened a little and I could feel his warm breath against my neck.

"Look, Mikey, I'm sorry. I know our situation's tough right now, and I know that I'm not making it any better by acting like this. I'm trying not to, but-" I shook my head and put the photo on the bedside table so I could focus fully on Raph.

"No, Raph, it's cool. I know you need to blow off some steam every now and then, or you'll explode in a big pile of feels and that mushy goo that makes you the big softy you like to pretend that you aren't." I heard him snort a little in a small laugh, but he didn't say anything. "But you shouldn't try to pick fights right now. It's not the right time, bro." He nodded and eased up on his grip around me.

"Yeah, I know. I know I need to not let my feelings out on you guys right now, but it's hard. You know me, Mike, I'm not good at this kind of stuff. I'm trying to do what's right, but you gotta cut me a little slack here." I rolled my eyes and shoved him with my shoulder, to which he gave a shove in return.

"Dude, you have to try a little harder than that. You can't just try a little and expect us to take it like it's nothing. You have to actually try, bro." He nodded and now he just had his arm draped over my shoulders.

"Yeah, I know. I guess I need to try a little harder." I smirked as an idea came into mind and, as quickly as I could, I reached out and grabbed the spoon that was in the bowl with ice cream, and before Raph could react, I smacked the spoon that was covered with cold ice cream on his nose and his forehead. He jerked back in surprise and let out a yell as the spoon hit him. I laughed and pointed at him with the spoon.

"Haha, good thing I know good ways to snap you out of your funks then." He looked too surprised to do anything at first, then he glared playfully at me. His arm, that was still around my shoulders, tightened its grip and he caught me in a headlock, leaving me trapped in his strong grip. I struggled and tried to push him away, to no avail.

"Heh, you really should be more careful with what you get yourself mixed up in, little brother. Now you've made the beast angry." He took the spoon from me and dipped it into the ice cream. But instead of just leaving the spoon just covered with ice cream, he scoped some of it onto the spoon. I shrieked with laughter and tried to pull away, but couldn't, and Raph let the ice cream on the spoon drop onto my head. I shrieked again at the cold mess that hit my head and as soon as Raph pulled away, I flew up from the bed and started to jump up and down and tried to spot anything to wipe the ice cream off my head with.

"Agh, agh! Major brain freeze, dude!" Raph just scoffed and stood up from the bed.

"Heh, what brain?" He left the room, but came back after only a few seconds and gave me some toilet paper to wipe my head with. And while I cleaned myself up, he walked over to the bed and took the bowl and gave it to me.

"The rest of us were gonna play some cards downstairs. Feel free to join us, after you've cleaned up." He patted me on the shoulder and left the room. I smiled and hurried to clean myself up and throw the paper into the wastebasket.

"I'm coming!" I grabbed the bowl and hurried downstairs to join the others.

* * *

 **A/N: And it's done! Yay! It's hard to find time to write right now, because of school, but I'll be free from school this Friday (the day before Christmas, not yay...) and then I hope I'll be able to update some more, or at least regularly.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody, and Merry Christmas!**


	46. Chapter 45, Why didn't you help me?

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Hi, guys.**

 **I wanna take a moment to be serious with you all, because I feel I kinda have to. I am starting school this Monday, January 9th. And this summer, June 9th, I am graduating high school. And I've come to realize that there is a big project in my lap that I really have to get a hold on and finish, or else I am not going to graduate this summer. I also realize that I have spent more of my time writing for you than taking the time to do my school work. And I really want to be able to look forward to this June and know that I will walk out of that school with my graduation hat and white dress and know that I am done with high school (if confused, look up Swedish Graduation)**

 **So, with all that said, I don't know how much I will be able to update during the next couple of months. I will, of course, take any chance I get to write more chapters, but it might not be very frequent, or maybe even more than once a month, I don't want to make promises I may not be able to keep. I just wanna say this because I don't want you to think that I am losing interest or am being lazy; I just want you to understand that I want to graduate high school.**

 **Thank you if you actually read this, and thank you in advance for your understanding.**

* * *

Chapter 45, Why didn't you help me?

 _How come everything is always dark when you're in pain? I mean, being unconscious is one thing, but why when you're in pain? Last thing I remember before I fainted was a flash of pain and for a second I saw nothing but white. So... how does that work?_

 _I felt like I was floating underwater, but somehow still able to breathe. I felt nothing under my feet and there was nothing around me other than compact darkness. It felt a little weird, but at the same time it was oddly relaxing. Or, it would have been if not for two things. The first thing was the searing pain in my side and my leg that made it hard to find peacefulness. And the silence was oddly unsettling. Even if I could have ignored the pain, I couldn't ignore the silence. You know that kind of silence where you can practically feel it, or feel that somebody's watching you? Multiply it by a hundred. I turned around in every direction I could to try and find anyone or anything there, but saw nothing._

 _"Hello? Is there anyone there?" I almost jumped out of my skin when I heard my own voice bounce back at me in a loud echo. I had so gotten used to the silence that the sudden sound almost scared me. But suddenly the blackness around made started to fade away, and colours started to enter my vision. I suddenly felt ground under my feet and when I looked around, I saw a sewer tunnel start to appear. And as I looked around me and tried to find any signs that could tell me where I was, I heard blasting, shouting and metal smashing against metal. And I recognised it; a Kraang battle._

 _I ran down the tunnel towards the sounds of battle, but as the end came into view I felt a cold rock drop down in my stomach. And as I ran into the big room, it felt like a blow to my gut._

 _"Oh, no. No, no please not this. Anything but this." I looked out over a huge Kraang station, Kraang-bots running around and firing at their enemies and one giant portal that was active and seemed ready to be used. I recognised this all too well. It was our fight with the Kraang on the day we lost Donnie. In fact, when I looked towards the portal, I could see Donnie and April running up to the control panels to try and turn it off and stop the Kraang's plans._

 _For a second I felt completely paralyzed and I could do nothing but stare at the fight with terror. But then, the cold rock in my stomach exploded and I tried to run out into the battlefield. But my feet were glued to the ground, so I almost tripped and fell to my knees. But I quickly regained my balance and looked down at my feet, trying to lift them; it was like they were welded to the concrete, and I couldn't move. I yanked on my feet, pulled on them as hard I could to get free and touched the ground around me to find anything that could be the reason I was stuck to the ground. But nothing worked. I couldn't move an inch._

 _I looked up again and noticed two things. First, even though I couldn't move, I was either closer to the portal or my eyes had somehow zoomed in on what was going on there, because now Donnie and April were only a few feet away from me. The second thing was a Kraang-bot running up behind Donnie with that gun in its hand. I reached out and yelled as loudly as I could, hoping my doomed brother might- but won't, I knew that, but please, Donnie, work another one of your miracles and just- hear me._

 _"No, Donnie!" The Kraang's laser bullet hit the panel and the portal started to go crazy immediately. Donnie and April tied themselves to it to avoid getting sucked inside while the rest of us hid behind a pile of debris. Everything pretty much played out the same way as I remembered it. But it was still so hard to watch this again. I gritted my teeth and pulled on my feet as hard as I could, but I still couldn't move. And then, things changed. Just as April grabbed Donnie's hand as the cables he had tied around himself snapped, he turned to look straight at ME, even though the Past-Leo was out of sight behind the rock with the others. He looked at me with pleading, terrified eyes, the wind blowing around him making them watery._

 _"Leo, help me!" At first I didn't understand why or how he could see me, since it seemed like no one else could. April had her eyes on Donnie and didn't seem to have heard him call out to me. I desperately tried again to yank my feet from the ground and get to Donnie so I could pull him away from the portal and save his life. I yanked and pulled and yelled and swore to try and break free, but just couldn't. Tears of frustration and pure desperation welled up in my eyes and I pulled as hard as I could, making absolutely no progress._

 _'I can change everything. I can save him. I can save my family the heartache. I won't be a failure. He'll be alive. Everything will be okay,' I told myself and over and over as a motivator so I wouldn't stop trying. He looked at me, and it was as though he didn't see my struggle, like in his vision I was simply standing idly._

 _"Leo, please! I need you! Why aren't you helping me?" I looked up and felt my heart shatter a little when I heard the brokenness his voice and saw the betrayal in his eyes. I pulled on my legs to try and force them to move, but once again it didn't work. I called out to him, tried to calm him down and reassure him that everything would be okay._

 _"Don't be scared, Donnie! I'm coming, just hold on!" I pulled on my legs until it caused legitimate pain and I almost tripped over myself. I even reached out my hands to try and grab his, finding I was suddenly just inches away from him. I grunted and tried to stretch myself a little further, but Donnie was just out of my reach. He tried to reach out to me while he still clinged onto April's hand. But he was too far away no matter how far I stretched my arm and leaned forward._

 _"Donnie, don't worry, it's gonna be okay! Just try to grab my hand! I'll help you!" He reached out anew and grunted in exertion, trying to go even further._

 _"I'm trying!" I placed one hand on the wall and leaned even further forward, felt my fingers graze against Donnie's. But it still wasn't enough for me to be able to grab his hand. His eyes were filled with tears and his other hand was slipping out of April's grip. He slipped back, towards the portal, looked at it with terror in his eyes and then back at me._

 _"Leo!" I felt tears of my own fall down my eyes and cheeks. I gritted my teeth and decided to risk it all. I braced my legs and jumped forward, best as I could anyway, and reached my hands out for Donnie to grab onto. This was my little brother; I would do anything it took to save him. My heart was pounding harder than ever before with my desperate need to keep him safe, to pull him from danger and never let go again._

 _But just at that moment, the other Kraang-bot came flying towards the portal, slamming into Donnie's chest and sending him flying backwards. I just barely missed Donnie's hands and fell down onto the ground with a loud thud. I hit my face against the rock-hard floor, scraped my arms and legs, and felt a blood slip down my chin. I frantically looked up just in time to see Donnie fall through the portal with a loud scream._

 _"Donnie!" I reached out to him and he looked at me, somehow managing to look me in the eyes despite the portal twirling him around in a crazy, demented ballet routine. He managed to scream, just before he fell through the portal to be gone forever,_

 _"Leo! Why didn't you help me?!" I let my hand drop to the ground and let my tears fall. I had failed. I failed my brother. I failed my family. I failed everybody._

 _"NO!" I slammed my clenched fists on the ground as hard as I could and didn't care when blood started to pour down my wrists and my arm. Tears were streaming down my cheeks and dripping down onto the ground beneath me. I didn't even try to fight back my tears and just let them fall, which both hurt and brought a tiny bit of relief. "I'm sorry, Donnie. I'm so sorry."_

 _"So, how does it feel?" I jumped with a small gasp and looked up. Karai stood in front of me, leaning on one leg and resting a hand on her hip with coy smirk on her face. "Y'know, to have someone you love ripped from you?" Her smirk turned into a cold, disgusted glare and she pointed the tip of her tanto inches away from my nose. I tried to swallow down my tears and stand up, and now my feet were finally free from the ground, but I barely noticed it. I started to feel anger boil up in my blood, but it wasn't strong enough to break through my grief._

 _"K-Karai..." She kept her glare and started directly into my eyes, which made a shudder run down my spine, and I couldn't look away. I swallowed again and took a step forward, but she jabbed me in the plastron with her tanto. Not hard enough to be an attack, but still enough for me to take the hint: 'stay away from me'. I took a step back again, and her signature smirk once again spread across her face._

 _"You know, if you really think about it, Leo, it's kinda your fault that this happened." She gestured out over the Kraang's underground lair, but instead of seeing the cold, dark sewer, I saw the city. Standing on a rooftop, we were looking over Time Square and I felt like a part of me died when I saw it all._

 _It was New York, and I could still recognise it all. But the streets were covered in giant, tree-like crystals, Dimension X creatures, Kraang-bots roaming the streets and poor, human-Kraang hybrids that were crying out in pain and sorrow and were flailing with long Kraang-tentacles instead of arms. It all felt like big punch in the gut. My jaw hung wide open and I couldn't tear my eyes away._

 _"Yeah, take it in, Leo. All the destruction, all the pain and all the grief. All of it could have been avoided, possibly solved, if it wasn't for YOU. You dismissed him. You pushed him away. You didn't help him when he needed you the most. And now, you suffer the consequences for it." I almost didn't hear Karai's voice, but her words rang clearly in my head. She was right. If I had talked to Donnie when he'd wanted to talk, and listened to what he had to say, maybe we wouldn't be in this mess. Maybe Donnie wouldn't have fallen through that portal, and maybe we could have stopped the Kraang from invading, and we would all be okay right now. I closed my eyes tightly and tears forced their way through my raw eyelids and down my cheeks._

 _"I- I didn't want this to happen. I didn't want any of this to happen!" I clenched my teeth and had to take a deep, shaky breath. "Donnie, I'm sorry." Karai smirked and somehow I hadn't noticed how close she had gotten to me. She had sneaked up behind me and had her sword tightly gripped in her hand._

 _"You're weak, Leo. And you're done for!" I gasped and looked up, expecting to see Karai but finding the Shredder, his metal claws raised over his head. Karai had disappeared into the background._

 _"Finally, I will have my vengeance!" I raised my arms to cover my face._

 _"NO!"_

* * *

"NO!"

I flew up from my slumber and looked around the room, trying to figure out what was going on. I found myself in a living room, my head resting on a pillow and a blanket now pooled around my waist. Slowly I started to remember that after we had played cards for two hours, Mikey, April, Casey and I had moved into the living room to watch the news to see if there was anything about New York and the invasion on, and after finding nothing we had put on a movie. I guess we had all fallen asleep during it, because we were all there in the living room, the others still sleeping on the floor or in a chair.

But I quickly threw that out the window when I heard the screaming continue and Splinter's slightly raised voice calling out to someone.

"Leonardo, it is alright! Calm yourself- you are safe!" I flew up from the armchair I had passed out on and ran over to the couch, in the corner of my eye catching Mikey and April waking up on the floor and looking over at us. I heard Mikey cry out 'Leo!' and get up after me, but at that point I was already kneeling down on the floor next to Splinter, who had a tight grip on Leo's shoulders and was trying to pin him down.

Leo was shaking like a leaf, flailing his arms around his face, as if to protect it, and screaming at the top of his lungs. "NO! No, get back! Please, just leave me alone! Please, I'm sorry!" I reached out my hands, placed them on Leo's chest and tried to push him down onto the couch, like Splinter was doing, to try and calm him down.

"Leo, bro, it's okay! We're here! Everything's okay!" Mikey came running up to the back of the couch and grabbed one of Leo's hands in a tight grip, which was necessary since Leo immediately tried to pull his hand away. April and Casey came running over, as well, but kept themselves in the background. April's hair was a tousled mess and her eyes filled with worry, but Casey still looked like he was tired and wanted to go back to bed. Still, he was a good enough friend that he stuck around when our brother was hurting. But all of this I only saw in the corner of my eye. My full attention was on Leo and making sure he was okay.

"NO! GET AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE! I'M SORRY! I'M SO SORRY!" Splinter tried his best to keep Leo down on the couch, but it was obviously becoming tougher and tougher for him as Leo flailed and jerked around like a scared animal.

"Leonardo, calm down; you will only hurt yourself more!" Mikey clinged onto Leo's hand as tightly as he could and his eyes were glued to Leo's face, never once leaving his tightly shut eyes. I reached out to grab Leo's other hand and used my other arm to try and keep Leo pinned down.

"Leo, it's okay! It's okay! No one is mad at you!" I had to scream now in order to make myself heard over Leo's screaming. Then he jerked up into a sitting position, his eyes wide open and somehow not seeing us or anything in front of him.

"I'M SORRY, DONNIE!" For a few seconds he did nothing. He just sat up, panting heavily and looking straight out into space. Mikey, who even still had Leo's hand in a tight grip, started to stroke it to try and calm him down while also trying to get his attention. I kept a reassuring hand on Leo's uninjured leg and squeezed Leo's other hand with the other, and Splinter had his arm around his shoulders. April took a few hesitant steps forward and placed her hands on Leo's cheeks and looked him in the eyes while gently stroking his cheeks with her thumbs.

"Leo? Leo, can you hear me?" Leo looked at her, but still didn't seem to see her. His eyes were similar to the ones you would see on a deer just as it spotted a car in front of it. Not that I've ever actually seen that, but you get the picture.

"Leo, bro? You with us?" Leo blinked and finally he seemed to recognise us and started to look around the room we were in, getting more confused by the second; then he looked up at Sensei, then at me, then April and then Mikey. He looked from person to person for about a minute, then he locked eyes with Sensei.

"Wh-What happened? Where are we?" Master Splinter let out a sigh of relief and his ears dropped slightly.

"We are at April's family's farmhouse, away from the city. You have been unconscious for about two days." Leo's eyes narrowed in confusion and he was about to sit with his back against the back back of the couch, but then let out a loud yell of pain when he tried to move his right leg. He gripped at it, then noticed the many bandages and the splint that Splinter had placed there to keep the bone in the right place. He then winced in pain and looked down at his side and noticed the bandage there, too. Then he seemed to remember what had happened in New York and looked back at us.

"Karai?" I nodded and patted his other leg.

"Yeah. She kicked you so hard she broke your leg and then stabbed you in the side. It's not too bad, but it's gonna take some time to heal." Leo looked down at the floor and tried to process the information. Mikey saw that Leo looked sad and wrapped his arms around his shoulders from behind in a light, yet heartfelt hug.

"But we'll be here for you whenever you need us, bro. You take the time you need to heal and get better, and we'll deal with the other stuff around here." Leo looked up and smiled weakly at Mikey.

"Thanks, Mikey. But this is still a lot to take in." He nodded solemnly, then gently nuzzled his face against the crook of Leo's neck, which made Leo crack a small, but more genuine smile and let out a faint chuckle. I pressed my lips together. I knew that Leo didn't care about Karai the same way as he did before, but should I tell him anyway? I took a deep breath and looked down at the floor.

"If it makes you feel any better, Karai knows the truth now." Everyone looked up from what they were doing and stared at me. Mikey let go of Leo's shoulders and stood up.

"She does?" I shrugged and looked down.

"When we were about to leave to pick up April and Casey and escape Shredder, Splinter's photo fell out of the bag and she saw it. I think she knows now that Leo's been telling her the truth this whole time." If Leo actually felt happy about this, he didn't show it at all. He just shrugged and looked down at the floor.

"Oh. That's great." He tried to sound happy, but I could see he only did for Sensei's sake. But even Sensei didn't look that thrilled about it. He sighed heavily and his ears drooped even more.

"It may be true that she knows the truth, but what she chooses to do with it is on her shoulders. She may choose to ignore it, or she may try to come back to her real family. That is up to her." I rolled my eyes with a sneer and folded my arms over my chest.

"Pch, yeah right. She may try, but the question is whether we should accept her this time." April and Mikey looked over at me with big eyes, and Mikey glared at me.

"Dude! She's our sister! Of course we have to welcome her into our family!" I stood up and glared down at him.

"Yeah, she's our sister. She's our sister who devised a plan specifically to _kill_ _us_! And she killed our _brother_! How can we trust her if she says she wants to be part of our team? Heck, she may use that little scene against us to make us believe she wants to change. I'm not going to trust her." Mikey crossed his arms and glared at me, but Leo took everyone by surprise when he said,

"You know what, Raph? Neither am I."

* * *

The night was starting to carry over to day, and everyone was still awake. No one was tired enough to want to go back to bed, so April went into the kitchen to make some hot chocolate for all of us, some tea for Master Splinter and some cheese sandwiches, while Casey lit a fire and Mikey ran around with a lighter and lit all the candles in the living room. Mikey running around with a lighter; that idea was so bad I imagined Donnie tackling our hyperactive brother to the ground and giving him a stern lecture on fire safety, then snatching the lighter away and doing the lighting himself, demonstrating proper 'lighter procedure'. The mental image was enough to both lift my spirits a little at the pure Donnie-ness of it, while also enough to sober me even further. Overall, it was a very bittersweet few minutes watching Mikey scamper about with the potential housefire gripped in his hands.

Raph was trying to make the couch more comfortable, since I had been lying on it for two days and needed some fluffing and to get some air. Splinter had given me a crutch to use until my leg healed, so I was standing next to the couch, looking at Raph while he worked on the couch. I found the air in the room too warm and thick to be able to breathe properly, so I started to limp towards the front door. Casey looked up from his poking the fire and at me.

"Where are you going, dude?" I glanced at him and placed my hand on the door handle.

"I need some air. Fresh air. I just need a few minutes- be right back." I didn't wait for a response, since I knew they would most likely start to baby me and tell me to stay inside and blah-blah-blah. I stepped out and was a bit shocked to find the air as cold as it was, but it was definitely a welcome chill. It cleared my mind a little and helped me collect my thoughts. I sat down on bench and looked up at the stars and the moon that was starting to fade away into dawn and took a deep breath of the cool, fresh air. The stars blinked at me and I suddenly felt more melancholy. My nightmare kept playing over and over in my head and I couldn't, no matter how hard I tried, get his words out of my head.

 _"Leo! Why didn't you help me?!"_

I bit my lip to fight against the tears. "I don't know. I really don't know," I muttered to myself and tears pounded against my eyelids. I had failed him, just like I had always failed him. He was my little brother, and I had failed to be there for him when he needed me to listen, to comfort, to help him. I was a big part of the reason he had always felt so alone and couldn't turn to anyone tell them about how he felt. Because he thought no one would care. I mean, if big brother Leo doesn't want to listen, who would? I pressed my hand against my eyes and tried to keep the tears from falling, but found myself letting a few of them slip through anyway. How could I have been so careless? How could I have let my brother think that I didn't love him?

"Leo?" I looked up as April come out with a cup in her hand and a worried look on her face. I sat up straight and tried to smile, despite how awful I felt inside, and hoped she couldn't see the wetness of my face.

"Oh, hi, April. Uh, wh-what's up?" She came up to me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"You shouldn't be out here for too long. It's freezing, and Splinter doesn't want any of you getting sick or hurt because of it." I nodded and stood up to follow her back inside. Then I felt her hand on my cheek and she looked straight into my eyes.

"And Leo, he would have forgiven you. I know he would have." She wiped a runaway tear from my cheek. "I don't know what your nightmares were about, and you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. But I have a very strong feeling that Donnie would forgive whatever crime you feel you've committed." I choked back a sob and April wrapped her arms around my neck and held me tightly, the mug in her hand now on the floor.

"It's okay, Leo. It's okay. Everything will be fine." I nodded into her shoulder and kept my mouth shut so I wouldn't whimper or sob or anything else like that. After a few minutes April let go of me and gave me the mug of hot chocolate.

"Now, come on inside. We're all having sandwiches in the living room and just talking. You wanna join us?" I smiled and sipped on the chocolate, nodding at her.

"Yeah, I think I need that right now. I'm really hungry." She smiled and nudged my arm.

"Well, no wonder; you haven't had anything to eat in two days. Now, come on." She placed her arm around my shoulders and we started to walk back inside. But even though I felt better now, that awful feeling was still there, deep down in my gut. The horrible feeling that told me over and over again that I had failed. Failed to help my brother, failed to see that Karai would not just change, failed to lead my family out of the city. Failed. Failed! FAILED!

I sighed and looked up at the moon.

 _'I don't know. I don't know why I didn't help you when I had the chance.'_

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 **A/N: I hope what happens in this chapter doesn't happen too early, but I didn't want to drag it out, so I decided to do it now. Still, I had planned on doing this last chapter, but... yeah, I'm gonna shut up now. So, not a lot happens in this chapter, but still, it was the best I could come up with. I hope this will be good enough for you.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**


	47. Chapter 46, How Far to the End?

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: *Singing* "See the line where the sky meets the sea, it calls me. And no one knows how far it goes-" No! No, stop it! Get it out of my head! Seriously, Let it Go didn't tire me out this early. And Moana hasn't even been released in theatres in Sweden yet! Ugh, damn it, Disney, why are you doing this to me? Oh well, at least you gave me some inspiration for this chapter, so I guess we're cool. For now.**

 **Good thing we had a bit of a soft start my first week of school. One of my teachers has quit her job, so while they're finding another one, we've had time to do school work we're either not done with or do other things that are school related. This has given me a little time to write more for you. Good thing, right? Well, I still work on that really important essay that needs to be done by April, so there's that, but a small break is necessary sometimes, right? Ugh, no wonder I'm stressed about school right now: I'm terrible at getting started on things...**

 **Anyway, I'm happy to give you this chapter, hope you'll enjoy it and please review, favorite and follow!**

* * *

Chapter 46, How Far to the End of the Universe?

The Professor had told us that we would arrive at Zerij by tomorrow, so that gave us time to do whatever we wanted. Well, almost whatever we wanted, anyway. Donnie had, for some reason, locked himself away in the holographic chamber and hadn't come out for a second since we had gone through that wormhole. And that was about two hours ago. Jhanna had shrugged it off, saying that if he wanted to be alone, we should let him. He had shown a liking for be alone, so why should we disrespect his wishes? I had just rolled my eyes at her and walked away. Jhanna had never been good at reading other people, following her emotions or trusting her heart. She was quick to judge and didn't trust easily, which sometimes was good, but right now it really wasn't.

I didn't know Donnie very well yet. And I was not in the right position to tell anyone how to handle emotional problems, since I was still trying to get through the fact that my whole life was a lie and I had been helping my father hurt innocents and capture a man because of greediness for power. And that was before I knew about Donnie and that he and Jhanna got captured by the Triceratons. Then I sent out soldiers to help capture all three of them.

Donnie... it seemed to me like he was trying to hide something. I knew Jhanna liked to keep her feelings inside, and I kinda recognised that in Donnie, only it seemed a little different with him. If I were to go on his reaction when Jhanna asked him why he thought his family didn't care about him, it seemed pretty obvious he had some trouble with his family and the relations between them. I wanted to ask him, but how would I do that without having him turn his back on me again?

I was sitting at a table and eating some lunch while thinking over my next move. I know I had talked to Donnie late at night back on Filione, but we hadn't gotten that far into a deep conversation before we had both gotten tired and went to bed. But still, I had gotten enough to understand that he was mad at them, but still cared about them very deeply. So what could it be?

Mona Lisa came out of the door that led to the control room and dried her newly cut hair with a towel, showing me that she had just come out the shower. She hung the towel over a railing, walked up the food replicator and then came up to me with a bowl of salad. She sat down with a small smile and rested her elbows on the table, with some water still dripping from her hair down on her arms.

"Hey, Star. What's going on?" I smiled and sipped some milk.

"Eh, nothing really. Just trying to figure out how to talk to Donnie." Mona raised a confused eyebrow and nibbled on some lettuce.

"Why? Is something wrong?" Was there something wrong? I shrugged and pressed my lips together.

"I don't really know. I just get the feeling that-" I didn't get to finish the sentence before a loud explosion was heard and we both jumped in our seats and turned towards the holographic room. We looked at each other, stood up and ran towards the door. When the doors opened we both recoiled as thick clouds of smoke came billowing through the door and up in our faces, making us cough. I made my way into the room, but Mona Lisa stayed behind because of an extremely violent coughing fit. It was hard to see anything, but I started to make out contours of a body on the floor. I coughed a little and tried to get down a little lower, like I had been told to do if I ever was in a fire.

"*cough cough* Donnie?" The figure on the ground moved a little and tried to get to his feet by pulling himself up on his work desk. I hurried up to him, slung his arm around my shoulders, and helped him stand up. He coughed and then tried to laugh.

"Well, that could have gone better." I rolled my eyes and he pushed a small button and a fan started to hum, the smoke starting to fade away until it was finally gone. I gently let go of him as he stood up steadily and grabbed the crutch he had dropped on the floor.

"Are you okay?" He waved me off and smiled reassuringly.

"Oh, don't worry about me; this happened all the time back home. Explosions are unavoidable when you're working in a lab. And it was, if anything, a successful test." I rubbed my arm over my teary eyes and looked over the work desk to try and find the source of the explosion.

"Successful? You call an explosion successful?! What the heck are you doing anyway?" Mona came in now that the smoke was finally gone and she had overheard Donnie's reassurance. She looked annoyed and a little angry, but I got the feeling that she was just concerned for Donnie's wellbeing. Donnie's eyes suddenly lit up with excitement and he gestured at the table in front of us.

"I'm trying to upgrade my spacesuit so that I can do more now that my leg is hurt." He pointed at some metal to his left and showed me something that looked like more like scrap metal than something that belonged in a science project. "I found this when I was looking for those tools The Professor told me about and looked it over. It seems strong enough to be able to withstand pretty much anything. That was what I was doing when the explosion happened. I was firing some laser bullets from one of the stronger guns at it, and the bullets bounced off and exploded. This stuff it perfect!" Mona and I frowned at each other and looked down at the suit on the table.

"Perfect for what?" He smiled and gestured down at the suit again.

"For armour, of course. I'm gonna weld some of this stuff on the legs, arms and other places that might need extra protection. Oh, and look at this!" He grabbed a helmet that was placed off to the side. "I've programmed the suit's comm link into this thing, too, so I can use it while I have the helmet on. And here," he put the helmet aside and grabbed the gauntlet on the suit's sleeve. "I've programmed the suit's gauntlet to be able to do more than just answer incoming messages. If it works the way I want it to, I could program the weapons for this suit to be controlled through this gauntlet. I have so many ideas, I can't wait to try all of them!" Mona rolled her eyes with a wry smile.

"Yeah, sure. Knock yourself out, just as long as you don't end up killing yourself." She walked out of the room and I could only assume that she went out to get her lunch. I looked out over the stuff on the table and fingered a little on a hammer. I recognised most of the tools from the people at home whose job it was to fix computers or the damages done to our homes, but I had never been allowed to even touch them. I was good with computers and technology, but building things was something I had never tried before, even though I had always been interested with the idea. And seeing Donnie's excitement over his own inventions and ideas woke those feelings.

"Man, I wish I could be an inventor, too." He looked up from his project and at me.

"Well, why can't you? There's nothing holding you back- you could try it out if you wanted to." I shook my head and put the hammer down.

"No, I couldn't. I've never built anything in my life; I wouldn't know where to start. I have no idea on how to create stuff or come up with ideas for inventions." Donnie shrugged, picked up his gauntlet and looked it over and started to remove it from the sleeve of the suit while still talking to me.

"Well, neither did I. I had no idea how to build stuff or how to make sure it would work when I was a kid. But I still wanted to try and build or make things better, so I just started. I had no teacher other than the books I found in the sewers, or the sources from the internet when I fixed my first computer. And I crashed and burned more times than I care to remember. But that's how you learn. You gotta start somewhere and go from there. You fail, you learn. And the more you learn, the better you'll do next time." I looked down at the ground and thought over his words. You learn by failing? How does that make sense? I've heard the saying 'you learn from your mistakes,' but still, how does it make sense? Shouldn't failure mean that you're not good at what you're doing? That's what dad always said. Whenever someone failed, he berated and punished them to make sure it didn't happen again.

I shook my head to get my dad out of my head and looked back at Donnie. "Maybe I could help you with a few things?" He looked up from the gauntlet, which he now had successfully removed from the suit, and looked at me with big eyes.

"You _want_ to help me?" I nodded and took a step closer.

"Sure! I want to know more than just how computers work or the stuff you can learn in books. You seem good at what you're doing, so why can't you teach me some stuff that you know?" He almost seemed to enter another world. His eyes became a little dazed and he stared out into space for a second. He blinked, smiled and nodded.

"Well, I mean, if you really want to help-." I nodded eagerly and placed my hand on his arm.

"I do! I really do. I want to learn everything you know." He smiled, blinked a little, and for a second I thought he was blinking away tears. He placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Okay, then. Let's get started. But maybe you finish your food first." I remembered that I had left my lunch out in the other room and ran out.

"Oh, right! I'll be right back!" I heard him laugh at me before the doors closed behind me.

* * *

Starlee didn't take long before she came back into the holo-dojo, and she was so eager to help that she had a hard time sitting still for the first couple of minutes. But once I started to explain some of my ideas, she calmed down and I had her full, undivided attention. Which felt really weird. I was used to people rolling their eyes at my quote-unquote 'technobabble', or smiling and nodding and trying to look like they understood what I was talking about. And no one ever offered to help besides April, but that was only when I was working on the retro-mutagen or anything that could help her or her dad. I was always left to my own business whenever I wanted to invent something or just had to work on or fix something. So to have Starlee here, listening to every single word and also understanding everything I said, was something entirely new. And I really liked it. She would give her opinions on my ideas, but never tried to replace my ideas with ones of her own. She said what she thought and then gave some advice on other ways to go about those ideas, but that was it.

I placed a blueprint in front of her. "Okay, so I plan on putting armour on the lower legs, about up to my knees, my feet, the forearms, my shoulders and maybe my shell. I also plan on having shoulder pads, for some extra protection, so it might give some protection to my neck and head. It seems like the best places to have some extra protection, right?" Starlee nodded slowly and had her lightly clenched hand over her mouth, seemingly in deep thought.

"Yeah, that sounds pretty good. Though I don't know if having thick metal on your shell will be necessary. Maybe we could put some padding in the back or something, but I think that putting metal on your back is going to make things a little too heavy. Which in turn might hurt your back." Hm, I hadn't even thought about that. And yes, it was a pretty good point. I nodded and scratched out that part on the blue print.

"Yeah, you're right. I didn't think of that- good point." She smiled and looked over the rest of the blueprint. She leaned closer to the written words, squinted and then placed her goggles over her eyes. She traced her finger over the words as she read and then looked up again.

"You say here that you plan on making some pockets for weapons. Are you planning on sewing pockets onto the suit, or what?" I shook my head and pointed to the belt that I had drawn around my waist.

"No, I'm going to make some pockets for this belt where I can put my shuriken and throwing knives and possibly some other weapons that can help me in tight spots and if I don't have any other weapons." Another idea popped into my head and I added a small holster on the back. "Maybe I can put a kind of holster on the back, for my bo staff, so I won't have to carry it around in my hand all the time." She nodded and grabbed the pen from me and drew some belts that would be located around my thighs.

"Yeah, and maybe you can put something here, and have some last resort weapons there, too. Like a gun, in case you lose your other weapons." I smiled widely and nodded back at her.

"Yeah, that's good! Really good." I wrote that down before I could forget it, and moved on to the gauntlet. I had already planned to connect the comm link to my helmet too, so I could talk into it with my helmet on. It would make things a bit easier. And I had been thinking of putting the controls for the gauntlet in the helmet too, but controlled by my eyes. The tech was around, so it was just a matter of adapting it to the gauntlet and how it worked. That way I could use the gauntlet to analyze the environment, answer someone's call or scan the Black Hole Generator pieces by only using my eyes. It'd make things much easier. But when I told Starlee this, she looked a little apprehensive.

"Um, wouldn't that sort of tech be easy to hack? I mean, wouldn't the Triceratons or anyone be able to hack into that helmet and get all the information you have in the computers through all that tech?" I shrugged. When it came to hacking, I considered myself a master on the subject, so the idea of the enemy trying hack into my tech wasn't something I hadn't thought of.

"No sweat, I'm way ahead of you. I've already got a million firewalls and protection programs in mind. If somebody wants to hack into my head, they're gonna have to go through all my mind has to offer first. And let me tell you, that's not so little."

She stared at me for a second, then smiled. "Well, if you're sure about that, good. But still, I hope you know what you're doing." I just smiled cheekily at her and turned back to my blueprints.

"Oh, don't you worry, Star. I know exactly what I'm doing." She eyed me unsurely, but I had my eyes on the gauntlet and didn't really think much of her looking at me like that. "Hm, maybe there's more I can program this gauntlet to do. There's got to be some way of tracking the Black Hole Generator pieces so we won't have to run around those caves looking for nothing." Starlee just looked at me, then down at the suit, then back at me.

"Shouldn't we start with the armour?" I looked at her, pulled out of my deep thoughts, and stared at her for about a minute. It almost felt like being woken up from a dream. I shook my head to clear it and nodded.

"What? Oh, yeah, yes! We should do that, so at least something might get done by tomorrow." She grabbed the laser pistol we needed to cut out the pieces and I directed her on how to do it. She made a bit of a fuss, since she didn't know how to do these things, but I insisted that she could do it. And she did really, really well despite her shaky hand and obvious nervousness. She had her eyes locked on the work in front of her and nothing seemed to distract her.

After all the pieces were done, I started to weld them in place. It was tricky, since I didn't have a model or mannequin or anything to help me, but it still worked pretty well. But, like I said, it wasn't that easy. Starlee suggested that I put it on and then let her weld the pieces where they should be. But I decided that it wasn't worth the risk of losing anything vital, like a leg or a patch of skin or something like that. So I did the best I could with the suit lying on a table and due to the circumstances it took much longer than it would have otherwise. But after about two hours it was finally done. Starlee wiped her forehead with her arm and let out a breath.

"Okay, I think I'm gonna call it quits for now. I'm so sweaty I feel like I just stepped out of the shower. I'm gonna go and wash up. You don't mind, do you?" I shook my head and picked up the gauntlet.

"Nah, I think I can handle it from here. It's just a bit of programming and reprogramming and some fixing. I'll be fine from here." I looked up and smiled at her. "Thanks for your help, Star. It went so much faster than it would have if it were just me." She smiled and ran out of the room, her purple hair flowing after her like a comet's tail. I smiled fondly after her and couldn't help but laugh.

"Man, it's like looking back into the past." Starlee reminded me so much of Mikey with her positive attitude and her compassionate nature, but her eagerness to learn and the way she soaked in every ounce of scientific or mechanical knowledge I said reminded me of how I was when I was around her age. She was smart and learned fast, but the fact that she wanted to learn as much as she possibly could reminded me of myself. She acted a little closer to how Mikey could be when he came into my lab, only she was nowhere near as oblivious about what was going on in the lab as Mikey could be. I rolled my eyes in annoyance and started to put the gauntlet back on the suit's arm again.

"Seriously, you would think that after messing up so many experiments and me telling him over and over again, the message would sink in after a few years. Ugh, it's like talking to a brick wall," I muttered to myself as the gauntlet came back on its original place. Mikey, bless his kind heart and sweet nature, could be so dense sometimes. I know Mikey can be really, really smart. So when will he actually show it? Sometimes I think he likes to play dumb, because he thinks it's easier to be dumb and trying to think and come up with smart ideas is not worth the effort, since there are guys like me and Leo around to do the hard thinking for him.

I groaned and shook my head. There I go again, blaming others for being who they are. I know Mikey has problems with keeping his focus and sometimes has problems remembering things, both that are and aren't important. So it's not like it's weird or surprising that he has trouble keeping up with my tempo or learning the things I know slower than I did. That has always been fact, so why should it be any different now from two years ago?

I sighed and looked back at the blueprints. Okay, so the suit was about done; all I needed to do was fix those pockets and then suit alone would be finished. I would need to fix some things with the technology in the helmet and the gauntlet, but the suit would be just about done. I grabbed the suit by the shoulders, lifted it up and looked over my work.

"Not a bad job, if I do say so myself." I couldn't help but feel smug about the job, even though it wasn't anything that spectacular. Not like making a van out of an old abandoned subway car, but still. Starlee and I had done a good job, especially since I had no experience with clothes of any sort. I felt tempted to see how it looked on me, so before I could think of doing anything else, I started to put it on. It was a bit trickier now, since there was a lot more metal on it and due to that it had become a lot heavier than it had been before. And it hurt a bit to put my injured leg into the boot-like part of the leg, but after a bit of trying and eventually sitting down on the desk so I wouldn't trip, I managed to put it on. I looked over at the full body mirror I had managed to find on the ship and looked over my work.

The metal we had put on the legs made it look like I had knee high boots on and it actually helped my injured leg a little bit, so I didn't feel the need to use my crutch as much right now. It still hurt, but the metal worked kind of like a leg brace, so it wasn't as dependant on it anymore. The suit felt a bit heavy on the places where we had placed armour, like on my forearms and my shoulders, but it still felt really good. I smiled and looked myself in the eyes.

"Lookin' good, Donnie." Suddenly an alarm went off and I looked up out of my dreams. I grabbed the crutch to help me a little and hurried out to the control room. The others were already there, and the Professor looked over the computers. I hurried up to him.

"Talk to me, Professor. What's going on?" The Professor looked up at the big window in front of us, and the problem appeared on there. He groaned and shook his head in annoyance.

"Ugh, wonderful. It seems a small meteorite has gotten stuck in one of the engines. If we don't fix the damage right away, it could lead to it overheating and, in worst case, explosion. We have to remove it immediately." He looked up at me and then eyed me up and down.

"Oh, I see why you have been so busy today. That is a very impressive amount of work in only a few hours." I smiled and shrugged.

"Oh, thank you." I looked up at the screen again and saw where the meteor was located. "Okay, so someone has to go out there and remove it? That's it?" The Professor nodded.

"Yes. Though you'll have to use special tools for it. It is still a meteor, and it can be incredibly hot to the touch." I nodded and looked back at him.

"Get me what I need to remove it. I'm going out there." As I said it, I felt my stomach clench in fear. Me, jumping straight out into space? It was both an exciting and kind of scary thought. But I tried my best not to show it. I turned to Starlee, who just came out of the shower and dried her hair with a towel.

"Hey, Starlee?" She looked up at me. "Can you go and bring me my helmet from the holographic chamber?" She nodded and ran out of the room, dropping her towel on the floor. Jhanna ran into the shower room and then came back with a backpack-looking device in her arms. It seemed to be a bit heavy, since she didn't hurry as much when she came up to me.

"Ugh, here. You have to put this on." I grabbed the device from her and looked it over. I couldn't see exactly what it was, so I looked back at her.

"What's this? And why do I need it?" Jhanna rolled her eyes and took the device from me again and walked up behind me, putting it on my back.

"It's a jetpack, genius. And unless you want to float off into space you're going to need this. Here, give me your arm." I didn't have time to process what she said before she grabbed my arm and started to pair the suit up with the jetpack. "Okay, you're good to go. And I've also turned on the oxygen converter, so you'll be able to breathe once you've put that helmet on." And, as if on cue, Starlee returned, my helmet in her hands.

"Here you go, Donnie." I nodded and put it on, listening to the helmet click into place. I looked down at my gauntlet and pressed on a few buttons.

"Okay, Professor. My comm link is connected to the ship, so I'll be able to hear you. I'm ready." He came running up with a something that looked close to a test tube holder, only bigger and sturdier, and gave it to me.

"Alrighty. Now, I'll guide you to where the problem is. All you have to do is carefully grab it and gently remove it. Be careful- and good luck." He gave me two thumbs up, which I returned. I took a deep breath and started to walk towards the doors that led out into space. I stopped in front of them, took another deep breath and pressed on the gauntlet, turning it on.

"Okay, Professor, I'm at the doors. I'm ready when you are." I heard a small spark in the speakers inside my helmet, then the Professor's voice.

"Affirmative. Doors opening in three, two, one..." I clenched my hands into fists as the doors opened and revealed the big, black and starry expanse of space. I took another breath and tried to relax.

"Calm down, Donnie. It'll be fun. This is what you've been dreaming of doing your whole life. Don't chicken out now." I took deep breath number fourteen, counted to ten in my head and then- quickly so I wouldn't have time to change my mind- I took a leap out into open space.

"Booyakasha!" It felt like taking a step off of a cliff and I felt myself drift a few feet before the jetpack started up and I started to float upwards and forward. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" I took a few breaths, waved my arms and legs around to try and find some kind of balance, and tried to keep myself from freaking out. But after a while I started to relax, and try to figure out how to move forwards and backwards and left and right. It was like moving around in water, only a lot smoother and easier. I could do pretty much anything, move however I wanted, and there was nothing that felt impossible. Without gravity there was nothing holding me down or limiting my movements. And as I got the hang of it all more and more I started to smile, then laugh.

"Wow, this is so _cool_! Look at me, I'm flying! Haha, I'm the Super Turtle, Hero of the Galaxy!" I let myself fall backwards in a reverse somersault, twirled around in circles and struck a few 'heroic poses' just because I could. I felt incredibly stupid for doing all of this, but at the same time I felt like I was a little kid again and was having too much fun right now so I couldn't help it. I was yanked out of all of that fun by the sound of someone clearing their throat through the comm link.

"Donatello, we do not have all day. We must hurry up if we want to fix the problem." The Professor sounded both annoyed and amused, but I immediately snapped out of my thoughts and my focus came back on.

"Uh, right, sorry. I'm on my way- where's the problem area?" I moved towards the top of the ship and stood up on the roof, turning on the jetpack and turning on the gravity in it instead.

"Around the left wing, on the underside. You may have a hard time seeing it, but if I'm not mistaken there's a flashlight built inside both your helmet and your gauntlet, if it's too dark." I walked over to the left wing, kneeled down and looked down under the wing. Sure enough, there was a medium-sized asteroid stuck in the engine's ventilation system that functioned to keep the engine from becoming overheated. I grabbed the bigger test tube grabber and took ahold of the rock with it. It was stuck tightly, but after a bit of pulling, it finally came loose and I dropped it and watched it float further away into the galaxy. I smirked in satisfaction.

"Mission accomplished, Professor! The rock has been removed." I leaned down and looked over the parts where the rock had been to try and spot any damage. "And nothing appears to be damaged." I walked back to roof, looking down at the gauntlet as I spoke, not noticing the view around me.

"Excellent! You'd better come inside; it could be dangerous to be out there for too long." I nodded and was about to turn on the jetpack again.

"Sure, I'm on my way-" I looked up and my jaw fell open and my eyes widened. For the first time since I got out here, I saw space. I mean, actually saw it. Every star, every meteor and colourful cloud of gas, every supernova around me. And it was breathtaking to say the very least. Sure, I had seen some of this from inside the ship, but this was different. I had never felt so close to the stars before in my life. I turned down to the gauntlet again.

"Uh, on second thought, I'll be down there in a few minutes. I wanna take a moment to see all of this." The Professor sighed but told me to not take too long before he turned off the comm link. I sat down on the ship's roof and looked out over the wide horizon.

For as long as I could remember I had been fascinated by space and I couldn't count how many times I had dreamed of going to space and seeing all of the images I had seen in books, on TV or the internet for real. Which of course led to my brothers laughing at me and telling me how impossible it was for a turtle to go to space. Especially a mutant turtle, like me. Still, it didn't stop me from dreaming. And now, when I finally saw everything I had dreamed of seeing in real life, it almost brought me to tears. ...Of joy, of course.

I sighed and looked over the horizon, far, far ahead. Many scientists had the theory that space was never-ending and had no beginning or end. But the idea of traveling across the galaxy from beginning to end and seeing everything in there was more than enough to make me want to know where the end of it all was. Just imagine, the first earthling to see all of this, and it was me. No one on Earth would ever see the things that I had seen today alone, but I here I was. Why not take advantage of it and discover as much as I could? Who knew how much I would see or what I would learn? And then, I would find the pieces of the Black Hole Generator with my friends, and then we would save Earth from getting destroyed by those nasty Triceratons. Ooh, the guys are never going to hear the end of it, I'll make sure of that. Hah!

I still felt a bit smug about this whole thing. Out of all the possible outcomes of the incident back on Earth, this seemed the most incredible. I mean, this couldn't be just a coincidence, could it? I could have died in that portal, or in that forest on D'hoonib, had the Professor not found me when he did. But now, somehow and someway, I was involved in a mission to save Earth, without my friends and family. It couldn't just be coincidental. Every time something like this had happened on Earth, it had involved all of us in some way, shape or form. So how could it be so very different now? Maybe the Universe had seen my plight and given me the chance to prove myself and improve myself as a turtle and a warrior, without my brothers or friends to steal any of the thunder. Maybe it was the Aeons who had watched over me and had given me the chance I had been looking for.

I stood up and ran up to the edge of the roof on the ship and stared off at the horizon. Tomorrow we would land on a new planet, and who knew what kind of adventure we would find there? I wasn't afraid of it, especially not of that story of the Wendigo. It was probably just a story, anyway, so how bad could it be down there? I didn't care- I was going to make sure it was gonna be a successful mission. Just as long as the Aeons, my new friends and Master Splinter's spirit were with me, we would be fine. I was sure of it. As long as they were with me, there was no telling how far I could go into the galaxy and what I could accomplish.

I sighed and studied the stars, so impossibly close. And my father's words rang in my memory.

 _"Love is like the stars. You can't always see it, you can't touch it, and sometimes its light seems to dim. But you know it's always there. No matter what happens."_

 _"Love is constant, just as the stars are always going to be constant. And as long as there is a star in the night sky, my love for you and your brothers will always be there."_

"He's watching over me. I know he is. Even if he doesn't realize it himself," I mumbled to myself, never once looking away from the stars around me. "He'll always be with me, no matter where in the galaxy I go." I smiled and looked over the whole scene, trying to look at every star I could see.

"Don't worry, Father. I will succeed. I will find the pieces of that machine, find a way to destroy them and then make sure the Triceratons never find a way to destroy our planet. I'll make you all proud of me. Soon." I remembered that the others were probably waiting for me to come back down again, so I turned on the jetpack and took a step outside of the ship, floated back to the ship's doors and went back inside. I still had some work to do on my suit and some other ideas I had in mind.

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 **A/N: And done! Hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	48. Chapter 47, The Planet of Death

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Hi guys! I'm back quicker than I thought I was gonna be. But that's just good, right? You who love this story think so, right? Not that I know how many of you are out there.**

 **I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 47, Arriving on The Planet of Death

As the Triceraton fleet got closer and closer to the grey planet before them, Zanramon looked out of the window in his private chambers, gripping his hands tightly behind his back, and tried to keep a straight face. But the planet before him was giving him a cold chill that ran down his spine, and there was a strange feeling that twisted itself around in his stomach.

Zerij was a cold, grey and rather naked planet with little vegetation at all. Or, to be more precise, there was very little vegetation on the planet that was still alive. And in those dead woods interspersed between the living patches were a lot of unknown monsters, lurking, looking for something warm and alive to sink their teeth into and turn into the same kind of monstrosity. The biggest creature, the largest reason to stay far, far away from this planet, was the Wendigo itself, able to turn anyone by simply touching them. The thought alone was enough to shake even the bravest men to the bone.

Commander Mozar came into the room and bowed before his leader with his clenched fist over his heart, though the bow was very stiff and mechanical, like it was a motion familiar through much repetition. But there was a different kind of stiffness in his motion this time. A lot could be interpreted by this motion alone: it was begrudging, full of bubbling resentment, and with a hint of disgust on his face that spoke loudly of how the Triceraton truly felt.

Mozar had done this salute many times in the past, and he still resented it just as much as he had done the day that Zanramon had been made Prime Leader of the Triceraton Empire.

"We await your orders, Prime Leader." Zanramon, who still had yet to turn away from the planet looming outside of his window, tightened his fists and closed his eyes, hoping it would help him think with more clarity.

"Have you located the fragment yet?"

Mozar stood up straight and lowered his head, hoping that if Zanramon were to turn around he would not see the look of resentment on his subordinate's face. "No, Prime Leader. The entire planet is contaminated with Black Matter, and our trackers have yet to find the source. But there is no doubt about the fact that it's hidden somewhere in the caverns. We do not know where, but we are willing to look through every tunnel in every cave in those systems to find the fragment." Zanramon grimaced at the lack of new developments, but took a deep breath to stay in control of his emotions, fearing that his own agitation and nervousness might leak into his voice if he spoke right away.

But as he heard what Mozar had to say, his face softened ever so slightly and he turned around to face his commander. "And you will be very wise to do so." He took a few steps away from the window. "Send down your best warriors immediately, and I want a scientist on the team to make sure you find the source of the Black Matter. Once you find the fragment, you will bring it here immediately and destroy every obstacle that might stand in your way. And," Zanramon lowered his voice and walked up to his desk, looking Mozar straight in the eyes,"if you come back to this ship with empty hands, I will make sure you regret the day you were hatched. Is that understood, Commander?" Mozar swallowed and bowed, once again hitting his fist against his chest.

"I understand, Prime Leader." He turned around to leave the room and once his back was turned to his leader, his face turned into a scowl of loathing and bitterness. He clenched his fists tightly to try and repress his urge to destroy the nearest breathing organism- that being Zanramon, of course, and while that fact certainly made the impulse stronger and more appealing, this was not an ideal time to have their leader assassinated- and raised his right arm to talk into the comm link on his forearm.

"All assigned soldiers to their ships immediately. Prepare for takeoff. We will land on the planet in T-minus five minutes." Mozar smirked into the gauntlet as he heard his soldiers answer his orders. Everything was seemingly going according to plan.

However, what Mozar didn't know was that there was another ship also preparing for landing on this seemingly lifeless planet. And they were also dead-set on finding the fragment first. They were just on the other side of the planet.

* * *

It all looked very similar to one of the moons back home on Filione- only a lot bigger, obviously. But there was something about Zerij that really sent shivers down my spine and made my stomach clench. I don't know, maybe it was because of everything I had already heard about the planet from the other Salamandarians, but there was something about the aura that surrounded it that really made me feel uneasy in a different sense, in a more physical sense than seeing something heard about in ghost stories.

The only real comfort was that I wasn't the only one who felt the same kind of unease. Everyone else was looking out over the planet, and no one seemed too thrilled about landing down there. Starlee stood to my right and Donnie and Jhanna stood to my left, all scanning the grey, seemingly abiotic areas down on the cursed planet's sickly surface.

"Well, here we are," Starlee whispered, hugging herself.

I nodded and bit my lower lip and played nervously my fingers. "No one who has ever landed on Zerij has ever made out of there alive. At least not without being scarred to the point of being comatose." Starlee gasped softly and stared up at me, her eyes wide with fear. I realized the implications of what I had just said and shrugged, tried to ease her worry with a small smile. "Or at least, so I've heard. We don't know if it's actually true, right?" Starlee nodded but didn't seem entirely convinced. Jhanna rolled her eyes and smirked teasingly at us; the same smirk that she almost always had on her face and that really drove me crazy.

"Oh, come on, girls. Don't tell me you're gonna chicken out on me now. Mona, you said you weren't gonna back out on us. Ya can't run back home now, you know, Tree Hugger." I narrowed my eyes at Jhanna and scowled testily. Yes, I was scared, but I didn't need this obnoxious street urchin to make fun of me for it.

"Oh, shut up, Bluebell! You don't know anything about me, so don't try to talk so big. And no, I am not going to back down. 'Cause, unlike you, my word actually means something." Jhanna's teasing smirk immediately morphed into an angry glare and she leaned in closer to my face.

"Hey! Are you saying I'm not trustworthy?" I smirked slightly at her, leaning forward myself and meeting her halfway, our noses almost touching.

"I didn't say that. You did." Jhanna growled at me and opened her mouth, surely to scream profanities at me that were highly inappropriate for her kid sister to hear, but Donnie rolled his eyes with a tired annoyance in his posture- he'd had enough of us arguing. He placed one hand on my chest and the other one on Jhanna's and pushed the two of us apart, staring both of us down.

"Okay, knock it off! Both of you. You're acting like children." He turned to Jhanna. "Jhanna, I can understand if you want to motivate others to be brave and do this without feeling so scared, but a good way to go about it is to _not_ insult or make fun of them- it usually doesn't work very well. Trust me, I have experience from the receiving end." She looked down at the floor, her bangs falling over her eyes, and she refused to look up at either of us or acknowledge that she'd made a mistake. Donnie turned to me and my fingers made their way up to my mother's ribbon, which was currently tied around my neck like a scarf, since it didn't work like a hairband anymore.

"And Mona, I understand if Jhanna can provoke and make you angry. And I also know it's hard to just ignore it when somebody insults or makes fun of you like that. Believe me, I know- I have three brothers who are experts on the subject. But when she provokes or teases you, just try to ignore her. She's just looking for a reaction." He leaned in closer to me and smiled wryly, gesturing at Starlee so she would come closer. "And it's okay to be scared, Starlee. Jhanna is scared, too. She's just too proud and stubborn to admit it." Starlee and I laughed at him, but Jhanna glared at Donnie and crossed her arms over her chest, trying to kill us all with her eyes alone.

"I am not _scared_! I'm not scared of anything." Donnie rolled his eyes at that, and Starlee and I just laughed. Then we heard the Professor clear his throat and we all turned and saw him stand with his arms folded, tapping his foot impatiently.

"Ahem; if we can put a little focus on a big problem, that would be most appreciated. The fragment of the Black Hole Generator is dripping with Black Matter, which is very dangerous to touch or get in any form of contact with. If we find the fragment, how are we to bring it to the ship?"

Donnie smirked and looped a thumb on his belt casually, the other hand reaching into a compartment on the belt. "I'm one step ahead of you there, Professor." Out of his belt he dug out a small metallic device and held it by a long black string. It looked like an amulet, only it was about ten times bigger and uglier than any amulet I'd ever seen. The device was big enough the fill his palm, and looked like a metallic can; most of the top was covered in a big, dark purple sphere, and around that sphere were some kind of lines- lights. It was round, about two inches high from bottom to top, and when Donnie pushed a small button on the side, it opened itself like a locket.

"I made this after I removed that rock from the ship yesterday. I had read about Black Matter when I researched the Black Hole Generator, and decided we needed something to help us remove it from the machine's system. And with this device I can not only track Black Matter, but absorb and contain it. Safe and secure." Starlee looked down at the device with big eyes and an admiring smile; Jhanna looked pretty impressed, too. But neither I nor the Professor or Traximus seemed entirely sure about this thing.

"Um, that's cool, Donnie. But are you sure that it's going to work? I mean, it's not like you've had the chance to test it out. So how do you know it'll work?" Donnie shrugged with a small smile, slammed the device shut and put it around his neck.

"It will. I've triple-checked every single equation and made sure that everything checks out- and it does. And even if it doesn't absorb the stuff, we can still use it to track the piece. But I know it's going to work. I'm one hundred percent confident that it's gonna work." I pressed my lips together and nodded unsurely.

"Alright. I don't know if I want to trust it will work just yet, but if you're sure it will, I'll trust your word. But still, I hope you have some kind of backup plan, just in case it doesn't." Donnie shrugged and fingered a little on the wrapping around his fingers.

"Well, not really. I mean, if my research is true, which I really hope it is, then Black Matter doesn't penetrate through clothing or non-living tissue. Meaning that our suits and gear should be able to carry it without fear of being affected by it." I looked at his half-closed eyes and tilted my head slightly to the side, letting my arms drop to my sides.

"So, we're basically winging it without any form of safety net or idea if it will actually work?" The Professor stepped forward.

"Well, the theory actually bears water. Black Matter was created to corrupt life, and thus only affects tissue from living organisms. It has no affect on dead or inanimate objects. It should work perfectly." Everyone turned to him and looked at him questioningly.

Starlee tilted her head to the side. "How do you know that? I thought most information about everything that was connected to the Black Hole Generator was deleted or destroyed." The Professor's eyes darted from side to side, then he shrugged.

"Well, I _am_ a scientist. I have read about these things before. The Black Hole Generator may be a mystery, but Black Matter is not quite as ambiguous. There has been talk about Black Matter before, but not a lot." No one seemed to fully buy this story, but Traximus took a step forward and reminded everyone that there was no time to waste.

"If I know Zanramon, he is probably here by now. We have to make haste and land on that planet, go down into those caves and find the fragment before they do!" That got everybody moving. Donnie and Jhanna hurried into their spacesuits and Starlee and I picked out one each and some suitable gear. I normally didn't like to wear clothes, but if we were going to be close to Black Matter and it doesn't have any affect on clothes, I might as well put my own safety before my likes and dislikes. Besides, it might actually help to have some bodily protection in case we were attacked or something. Starlee put on a similar suit to the one Donnie had, but obviously not as armoured, and it didn't have as much tech on it, and then slid on her helmet. She also put on a belt and put her tablet in the protective pocket and then looked around for a weapon. She perused the shelves that had all kinds of weapons, ranging from ordinary swords and knives to more technological weapons, like guns. She turned to me.

"I don't know how to use any of these. What do you think I should do?" I pushed the button on my turquoise spacesuit's gauntlet and it immediately started to fit itself to my body; then I walked up to Starlee and looked over all the weapons. I hummed to myself and then took a gun off one of the shelves and gave it to her.

"Here, you can take one of these. I don't think you're ready for any other kind of weapon on these shelves just yet. You could ask Jhanna to show you how to use a sword later." I grabbed my long knife that I had brought with me when we escaped the Triceraton prison and put it in my own belt after finding a sheath, then grabbed a pair of boots and gloves and put them on. This suit, unlike Donnie's suit, already had some protection for the shoulders and wrists, as did Starlee's, but they were probably not as tough as Donnie's, so all the weapons or whatever else here that could help us in a fight was welcomed. Starlee put on a pair of black boots and purple gloves and then we hurried outside again. Jhanna and Donnie had also put on their suits and had their helmets under their arms. Donnie also had his new metallic staff on his back and put a gun in his belt. Jhanna had a sword and a gun in her belt, and was just putting gloves on her hands. Traximus had his axe over his shoulder and looked over us.

"Are we all ready to go?" Everyone nodded and Donnie took the controls and started to fly us closer and closer to the planet, then began our descent. As we got closer we started to see more and more of the nature of this place and what it looked like. Not a pretty sight.

The entire planet seemed to only have a color palette of grey, brown and black. Everything seemed so colorless and dead and it was sickening to see every sort of vegetation- the trees, bushes, riverside plants and everything else- look so dead. A lot of the trees, somehow, still had their leaves on. I don't know how that was possible, but it was still enough for me realize that there was something off with this planet.

As we flew over the forest we saw some buildings that had fallen to the ground, statues that toppled over and broke, and technological achievements that were still up and running, and everything was completely deserted. I took a deep breath and clenched my fists. I had to be brave. I had made a promise to help this strange group save Earth, and I was _not_ gonna back down now. Even it meant stepping into the domain of the Wendigo.

* * *

To say that Zerij was creepy would be the understatement of the decade. The whole planet seemed to scream 'I'm evil! Leave while you still can!' at me as we tried to find a good spot to land the ship at. It all looked like something out of a horror movie gone wrong. You know, the kind of horror movies where the characters stay at a creepy cabin in the woods and some supernatural monster comes out to kill them all, one by one. And it didn't make it any easier that I already knew that there was a big possibility that there was some sort of monster in these very woods, lurking around and waiting for us to come down there so it could sink its teeth into our flesh and turn us into living zombies.

After a few minutes of looking around and gazing down on the abandoned civilisations and dead, creepy forests, we finally found a small glen in the woods just big enough to fit our ship and we landed there. The doors opened and the ramp came out for us to walk down on. With our helmets were on and four out of six of us with our hands on our weapons just in case, we all carefully made our way down to the planet's ground. I expected the grass to be dry and sharp like sticks, like it had been on D'hoonib, but it wasn't. It wasn't exactly soft and nice to walk on, like it had been on Filione, but still. It was dry and almost crumbled into dust under my feet. It crunched lightly when we walked. I looked down at my gauntlet and analyzed the atmosphere to see if we would be able to breathe without our helmets on.

"Okay, it seems like there's enough oxygen, so we should be able to breathe here." I brought my hands to my helmet and lifted it off my head. But the moment I got a sniff of the air, I immediately put it back on my head again and started to cough and splutter to get rid of the horrible stink that filled my nose. The others took a step back when they saw how I reacted and Jhanna put her hand on my shoulder.

"What is it, Donnie?! Are you choking? What can we do?" I shook my head and tried to take a few deep breaths and stop coughing.

"No. I just," I cleared my throat and took another deep breath. "The air on this planet stinks. The whole place reeks of dead bodies and rotten flesh. I suggest we keep our helmets on, assuming no one wants to die from the smell alone." No one had that wish. But before anyone could say anything about it, a sudden beeping broke the silence and everyone looked at me. I looked down at the tracker I had built in. I grabbed it and looked at the readings on it. The lights were going off in time with the beeping, and when I took a step forward the lighting got a little faster and the beeping got louder and faster.

"My tracker's got something! I think it's this way- come on!" We all started to go straight forward and I kept my eye on the device in my hands. But as we got deeper and deeper into the woods, the atmosphere started to get to us. Starlee folded her arms over her chest and hugged herself tightly, looking around with fear in her eyes. She shuddered and tightened the grip around herself.

"It's so eerie here. It feels like a nightmare come to life. No wonder no one ever comes around here anymore." Mona shuddered too and picked up her tail, held onto it to calm herself.

"Yeah, this is so creepy. Don't have to be psychic to get a bad feeling about this place." I stopped for a second and my thoughts flew back to April. April usually got certain vibes about things, so I couldn't help but wonder if she would've gotten the same bad feelings we did right now, or if she would get something else about this place that we didn't. None of us were psychic, so who knows. Jhanna shrugged and looked over her shoulder at the other two.

"Well, that _is_ to be expected, isn't it? I mean, this planet is contaminated with Black Matter, and Black Matter corrupts everything that's alive, right? It really isn't that surprising it managed to turn one the most beautiful and lively planets in the galaxy into a planet of death and destruction." Starlee looked at the sister with big eyes, then down at the ground and shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess." I looked over at the girls and couldn't help but feel a little guilty. They were here on a mission that didn't concern them in the slightest, and it was obvious that both Mona and Starlee were not enjoying any of this. None of these guys should be here; this was my mistake to clean up. They shouldn't be forced to endure something like this because of my mistake. But I also knew I needed their help. Especially now, when I had an injured leg and couldn't fight as well I as I should. And despite the fact that I didn't need a crutch as much now that my leg had the metal protection on it like a brace, I still wouldn't be able to get far on my own.

I was yanked out of my thoughts when the sound of leaves rustling and a sudden prickling in my neck made the ninja in me quickly deduce that someone was watching us. The others had also noticed that someone or something had rustled those leaves and Traximus, Jhanna, Mona and I immediately drew our weapons. Starlee moved in behind Traximus, but her hand flew to the gun that was in her belt. The Professor, however, just looked around, trying to spot where the the sound came from and where the one following us was. I placed my hand on his shoulder and pulled him closer to us so we could protect him if someone would attack. But for a long time the only thing we could hear was the sound of my tracker beeping. Other than that, it was eerily quiet.

Suddenly, something came bursting through the woods and screamed like a madman at us, making all of us jump out of our skin. Starlee, who was closest to the spot he came through, let out a loud shriek, dived behind me and grabbed onto my arm tightly. The rest of us gripped our weapons, and Jhanna flew forward with her sword in her hand, but was stopped by Traximus. The man before us was a sad sight.

He didn't look quite like a Salamandarian, but leaned more towards looking like a human. Not as much as Starlee or Jhanna, but close. He had the body of one, but was still very different. His skin was so pale it almost looked green, his face and body were incredibly dirty, he had dark circles around his eyes and he had sunken cheeks and his cheek bones stuck out like sore thumbs. He was so thin that it was a miracle that the clothes he was wearing hadn't fallen off yet; it was disturbingly easy to see his bones in some places, like his legs, arms, stomach and chest. He stared at us with wide, insane eyes and he was breathing heavily and loudly. He stared directly at me and pointed a long, shaky finger at us.

"What... what are you people? Are you a dream? Or are you ghosts, here to haunt us for our mistakes, mock us for our decisions." His voice was quivery and hoarse, and his eyes darted slightly from side to side. I opened my mouth and tried to speak, but my mouth was as dry as a desert and my tongue felt like sandpaper. I looked at the others, trying to see if anyone else could say something, but they just stared this guy. He stared back at us and raised his shaking hands in a peaceful gesture, peering into my eyes.

"I-if you are n-not ghosts, p-please s-speak to me. I-if you have c-come for s-something, tell m-me. A-and if you have a-any mercy in your h-hearts, do me the f-favour of e-ending my existence now. Rather die t-than live a-another m-miserable day in this hell." We all turned to look at each other. The man's voice was jagged and he stuttered a lot, as if his tongue stumbled over some words or he hadn't spoken a word in years. One thing was for sure, though- this man was way over the brink of madness. But he was obviously scared, and the last thing we needed was a problem with the people who lived here. So I put my staff back in the strap on my back and raised my hands, lowering my voice to try and calm him.

"It's alright, friend. We're not here to harm anyone. My name is Donatello, and these are my friends. We are not here to cause trouble, we simply want to find something here, that's all. We're looking for the-" I didn't even get to finish the sentence before he interrupted.

"Take it." I blinked and for a second I forgot what I had just said. Then I looked back at him and raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Uh, pardon?" He nodded frantically and grabbed my arm very tightly for someone who didn't look like he had any muscle mass whatsoever, and he stared into my eyes frantically, full of palpable fear.

"Take it! Whatever it is you want, take it! Just please, don't let us suffer any more than we already do!" I had no idea what to make of this. In a way it was a bit sad to see that inhabitants on this planet had been driven to madness because of all that had happened over the past thousand years. But on the other, it was kinda scary to be around somebody who was obviously mentally unstable. Mona Lisa took a step forward and used a very calm, soothing voice, something I had never heard from her.

"Well, you see, Sir, we don't really know where it is. See, we're on a mission to save our friend's home planet. so we have to try and destroy the Black Hole Generator." He gasped loudly, stared at us like we were crazy, then looked up at me.

"You... you want to destroy the Heart of Darkness?" I nodded slowly, still a little scared of what this man might do, and tried to ease his hand from my arm, to no avail.

"Uh, yeah. The Triceratons want to use it to destroy my home. So we have to find it before they do and destroy it. So if you can help, we'd appreciate it very much." The guy just stared at me for what felt like minutes. Then his eyes filled with tears and gripped my other arm and buried his face in the backs of my hands, started to cry.

"Oh, thank you, boy. Thank you s-so m-much!" I had to fight really hard against the urge to yank my hands away from his grip, but it felt really weird to have a complete stranger cry into my hands like this. "You must be sent from the Aeons to save us. They have finally decided to spare us our misery!" He let go of me and threw his hands to the sky and yelled up at the stars. "Thank you, great Aeons! We have learned our lesson, and we will never take life for granted ever again!" I stared down at the guy in front of us, then looked over at the others, who also stared and then they met my eyes. Starlee took a few steps forward and kneeled down in front of him with a soft smile on her face.

"Yes, we're here to destroy the Black Hole Generator piece. And if you can lead us to where we can find it-" He looked at us frantically.

"I will give you all I have, if you take that horrid piece of evil as far away from our planet as possible!" My eyes widened and I shook my head and held my hands up.

"Oh, no. That's really not necessary. We're not doing this for money-" He cut me off, again, and grabbed my arm.

"I will give you two thousand zemulacks if you take it away from here!" I took a step back as he grabbed me again and tried to smile, despite how uncomfortable I felt.

"Oh, um, well you really don't-" Jhanna shoved her elbow into my side and when I cried out in pain, she took a step forward and stepped in front of me.

"Thank you, kind sir. Your generosity is most appreciated. But if you would be so kind as to show us where you keep this device, we would be grateful." For somebody who didn't know Jhanna, her words must've sounded really genuine and she sounded like she actually meant what she said and her smile also looked real. But as somebody who did know Jhanna, it was pretty obvious to me that she was playing this man's frantic mind and desperation against him to get not only what we wanted, but also the money he was offering. The man climbed up on his feet again and wiped his arm across his face, but only managed to further dirty his face more with his remaning tears.

"I... I c-can't go d-down there. I can't face the horridness of that machine. Please, don't make me go down there!" Jhanna leaned down and placed her hands on her knees and made eye contact with him and gave a scarily convincing sweet smile.

"You don't have to. But if you can show us where we can find it, that would be really great." Her smile widened and she batted her eyelashes at him in an attempt to look cuter. And, I have to admit, she succeeded really, really well. The man pressed his lips together and looked really nervous. Then he took a deep breath and nodded, looking straight into Jhanna's green eyes.

"Okay. I will show you the way to the tunnel that leads to where the fragment lies, but after that you are on your own." We nodded and let him go through us and take the lead and followed him. But as he led us deeper into the woods and the surroundings got creepier and creepier, I grabbed Jhanna's arm and yanked her back and stopped walking to talk to her.

"Uh, what was that? I don't want his money; I just want the piece to the Black Hole Generator. And I don't approve of manipulating others to get your way." Jhanna rolled her eyes at me and yanked her arm out of my grip.

"Hey, I was just trying to be smart. He offered to give us money to get rid of that piece. And, in case you hadn't noticed before, we are kind of on a limited budget here. We're gonna need all the resources we can find. And if this guy wants to give us something for doing our job, then I don't see any problems with this." I glared down at her and tried to stare her down.

"I am _not_ doing this for _money_ , Jhanna. I'm doing this to save my planet from destruction." Jhanna rolled her eyes again, more exaggeratedly, this time and placed her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, and we'll see how well that'll go if something on the ship breaks and needs repairing and you don't have any money. Just sayin'." She then turned and jogged to catch up with the others. I let out a heavy breath and walked after her as quickly as my injured leg allowed me.

The disheveled native was really quiet for the entire walk and kept his eyes straight forward, which felt a little awkward. But no one really thought about him, and I looked around the forest and felt my skin crawl. It was so dark and spooky and if the scent was anything to go on, I could only assume that a whole lot of dead bodies were lying around, rotting somewhere around us. The thought was enough to make me sick. But I also couldn't help but wonder how beautiful this planet had been before the Black Hole Generator had been placed here.

The sound of a twig breaking made me stop and look to my right and deep into the woods; what I saw made me freeze, and my breath got stuck in my throat. Deeper into the wood a pair of glowing yellow eyes stared at me from afar, and whoever or whatever it was seemed to be about as tall as, if not taller than, the trees around it. I stared back at the eyes for I don't know how long, and then whatever it was started to walk away, and two tall limbs that I'd assumed were just tree trunks started to walk away, the steps creating loud thuds that echoed throughout the woods. I stared after it, even after I couldn't see it anymore, then hurried after the others.

Eventually the woods opened up and we arrived at a large opening in a mountain, and the man stopped about ten feet away from the opening and turned to us.

"This is as far I dare go. Go through that tunnel, and you'll find it." I nodded and, mostly out of habit, bowed to him.

"Thank you, friend. We really appreciate it." He nodded at me, and then wished us a quick good luck before he ran off into the woods and disappeared. We looked after him for a while, then looked at the cave opening. I took a deep breath and swallowed down the fear that still plagued my brain.

"Well, here we are. No turning back now." I turned to the others. "Let's go. We've got no time to lose." The others nodded and we started to walk into the cave. I looked down at the device in my hand, which was still beeping, but now much faster and louder than before. Starlee took a flashlight from her belt and The Professor's eyes lit up like flashlights. However, we didn't have walk very far before we saw a huge problem in front of us.

Either there had been some kind of earthquake and rocks had fallen from the cave's ceiling, or the inhabitants had used another entrance back in the day when they put the fragment in the caves, but either way, the way through the tunnel and down to the caves was blocked. We ran up to the block and looked it over. Traximus tried to lift some of the rocks and The Professor used his robotic strength to do the same, but none of it worked. The stones were seemingly too heavy for them, or locked in place somehow. Mona groaned and leaned back against the wall of the tunnel.

"Great. What're we supposed to do now?" Jhanna took her gun out of her belt and aimed it at the blockade.

"Well, we could always try to blow it up." The Professor immediately pushed the gun down and shook his head frantically.

"NO! If we cause an explosion down here, chances are pretty high that it will only make things worse. More rocks may fall down and crush us. It's too big a risk." Jhanna lowered her gun and put it back in her belt.

"Alright, then what do we do?" The Professor didn't have a good answer for that question and just started to look over the rocks and boulders. I looked over the big wall and tried to find something, anything, that could help us, when I spotted something. There was a gap in between two big boulders, obviously too big for Traximus to fit through, and it was borderline for me and my shell to fit through, but it was still something. I walked up to the gap and looked it over as closely as I could. It was narrow, but not too narrow. It might work. I turned to look at the girls and Professor.

"Hey, guys, do you think you could fit through here?" Jhanna, Mona and Starlee looked over at me, ran up to the gap and inspected it. The Professor also came up and seemed to check it over with his scanners. He hummed and leaned closer.

"Hm; it will be narrow. Obviously we can't all go through here." I nodded and placed my hand on the wall and leaned my weight against it.

"No, I know. But it's still better that some of us can get through here and maybe find another, better entrance somewhere else and can contact the rest. Or maybe they'll find the Black Hole Generator piece before the Triceratons do and can get it to safety until we can help. It's better than all of us just staying here." I turned back to the girls. "So what do you think?" They turned to the gap again, then Starlee shrugged and took a step forward.

"Let's see." She took a deep breath and held it, reached one leg in through the gap, so she stood with one leg on both sides of the wall of rocks and boulders, and then gently and slowly slipped through without any problems, other than that her foot hit one rock and she almost tripped. But she regained her balance before she fell and stood straight. She let out the breath she had been holding and then turned to us. She shrugged and gestured at the other girls.

"Come on! What, are you chicken?" The jab was mostly aimed at Jhanna for her teasing earlier on the ship, but I had a feeling she was teasing Mona too. However, Mona seemed pretty okay with it and didn't look like she was too mad about it. Jhanna, however, looked pretty annoyed at her sister and was quick to go after her. It was a little bit tighter for her since she was bigger than Starlee, but she still managed to get through without any problems. And Mona Lisa had an even easier time since she was smaller than Jhanna and more flexible than Starlee. But when the Professor was about to try and go after them, his head didn't hit through the gap and he stumbled back, and would have fallen to the ground if Traximus hadn't been there to catch him. I stepped up to the gap and looked through at the girls.

"Well, looks like you're on your own, girls. We can't go through here." Starlee took her pad out of her belt and pressed on the screen.

"I can try to find another way for you." I shook my head and reached up to take off my tracker.

"No, there's no time! You have to go and find the first piece of the Black Hole Generator and get it back to the ship before the Triceratons find it." I took off the tracker and handed it over to Starlee through the gap. "Here, take this. It should be able to help you find it. And if it doesn't, you should try to find it through your pad." Starlee took the tracker, looked down at it and then up me and nodded.

"We'll find it, Donnie. Don't worry, you can count on us." Jhanna gave me a thumbs up and gestured at Mona and Starlee. "Now come on, let's go!" They started to walk down the tunnel.

"Good luck, girls!" I called out after them and turned to look at Traximus and The Professor. "Okay, so what do we do? Just sit around and wait?" Traximus shrugged and rested his axe over his shoulder.

"I don't see what else we can do. We could try to find another entrance, but there's no telling if it will lead us to the Black Hole Generator. I mean, the man led us here because it was the entrance to the tunnel that leads to it. And even if we found another way in, it wouldn't be smart to be split up like that. We may have a very hard time finding each other again. The best thing we can do for now is to wait and be here if the girls need any help from outside the caves." I let out a heavy breath and just nodded. It was still a pretty bitter blow to my ego. Great start for this mission. I couldn't even get down there and help my friends and get the fragment myself. But whatever, it wasn't important who got the piece. The only thing that mattered was to find it and get it back to the ship. ...But still.

We made our way out of the cave again and The Professor said he was gonna go and place the ship closer to the opening of this tunnel, so when the girls came with the piece, we could bring it onboard faster and not have to run through the woods with a heavy piece of machinery. So while he ran and did that, Traximus and I sat outside the opening and waited. And while we waited, I thought of the girls and hoped they were doing alright down in those tunnels and caves.

* * *

 **A/N: Well, this turned out to be a lot longer than I thought it was gonna be. Okay, so this chapter have a few hints for the future of this story. Two, in fact. But if you didn't catch them, you don't have to worry about it, it'll come back and be bigger when it does. If you have any ideas of what those hints might be, and what might happen in the future, please tell me in your reviews.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	49. Chapter 48, Deep in the Caves

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Hi guys.**

 **Serious time again. So, yesterday I was asked to meet my father in the city, because we were gonna visit my aunt and my cousins. I thought it was weird, but went into the city anyway. I arrive, and I find out my grandpa's partner is dead. The day after my little sister died two years ago. It became a bit much for me, so I guess you could say I collapsed a little mentally yesterday. So, some parts of this chapter are probably not as good as they could have been, but I've been stuck trying to write this chapter for three weeks now and wanted to get it done, so please take this chapter with a pinch of salt.**

 **Thanks in advance for understanding, and please review, favorite and follow.**

* * *

Chapter 48, Deep in the Caves

Our troops landed on the west side of the planet and immediately lined up outside the ships, awaiting my orders. Or, more correctly, Zanramon's orders. How that little lump of fat had made it to Prime Leader was still beyond me. He had no strength or courage, so how had it happened? The only thing he cared about was finding the Kraang and destroying them for destroying our home. And, sure, it was the only intelligent thing he had thought of, but he never seemed to think of anything else, like what was best for our people or how to handle our other enemies or problems.

Not to say that physical strength is what makes a strong, capable leader, but if our leader barely reaches the average height of a Triceraton on top of needing to steal other ideas and claim them as his own in order to feel smart himself, then that leader is little more than a failure. The only thing he had going for him was his silver tongue. And even that had quite a few hiccups in his register.

I sighed and pushed those other thoughts aside, looking out over the troops in front of me. "Alright, men! You know your mission: find that fragment of the Heart of Darkness and bring it back to Prime Leader Zanramon. You know our Prime Leader does not accept failure. And neither do I. Find that fragment and destroy anyone that gets in your way! Is that understood?"

"Sir yessir!" The soldiers saluted me and I smirked at them.

"Good. Now, split up into teams and search through those caves, top to bottom. Lethal force is permitted." My soldiers saluted me again and split into five teams, heading off in separate directions. I grabbed my gun and axe and followed one of the teams into one of the tunnels, ready for anything to show up.

* * *

I don't know what was worse: sitting still and doing nothing or to sitting still and doing nothing and being worried. The Professor had made the decision for us to stay inside the ship, since being outside would be too dangerous, so were all sitting in control room- so we could see when the girls came back- and it was clear that we were all restless and worried. The Professor was sitting down on the steps that led to the door to the stealth ship and was toying with his fingers. Traximus was leaning against a wall and sharpening the blade of his axe. And I, well... I was trying to calm my nerves. Can't say I was doing a good job, though. I was pacing with my hands gripping each other behind my back, trying to breathe calmly and think positively. Again, can't say it was really working. It also didn't help that pain shot up my leg with every step I took, but I just couldn't bring myself to stop walking; though I couldn't help but whimper or grunt in pain under my breath with each step. After a good ten minutes The Professor looked up with concern.

"Donatello, please, sit down. You're only going to make your leg worse by walking around so much without your crutch. And it will take longer for the wound to heal."

I looked at him over my shoulder and grimaced angrily at him. "Ugh, bite me!" I snapped at him before I resumed my pacing. The Fugitoid winced a little, then sighed and left the room. Traximus sighed and put his axe aside, sitting down on another set of steps and patting the space beside him.

"Donatello, come. Sit down with me." I stopped walking, looked over at him for a while, then rolled my eyes and walked over at him, sitting down on the steps beside him, resting my arms in my lap and looking down at the floor. Traximus sighed and looked over at me. "Donatello, I understand that you are worried, but you have to calm down. If you keep this up, you'll only end up hurting yourself and your leg. The girls will be fine. Both Jhanna and Mona Lisa are more than capable of taking care of themselves and they'll be able to protect Starlee if they get into any sort of trouble." I let out a breath and threw my hands down into my lap.

"Yes, I know, but what if something goes wrong down there? I mean, who knows what could be down there that the computers didn't show us? Or what if the Triceratons find them and-" Traximus just shushed me, placed a hand on my shoulder and shook it lightly, but still ended up up shaking me more than I think he meant to.

"Oh hush now, Donatello- and don't forget to breathe. They will be fine; I have faith in those girls. Now you should go and try to relax a little. Just sit down for a bit, take a shower, get a cup of tea, read a book or do something else to get your thoughts off this. You have to try and think of something else for a bit." He patted me on the shoulder and smiled. "You'll feel a lot better afterwards." I sighed and leaned back a little.

"Yeah, I guess I need to relax a little bit." Traximus nodded and stood up and started to walk over to the dining and entertainment room to, I guess, train a little. But then, watching his hulking form retrat, I was suddenly reminded of what I had seen in the woods earlier and called out to Traximus.

"Hey, Traximus?" He turned around to look over at me. I nervously bit my lip and pressed my knees together. "Do you think the Wendigo is real?" Traximus looked at me with wide eyes then shook his head.

"I don't know. I don't know where the Wendigo could possibly come from, or how it's possible for a creature like that to exist. But, then again, this planet seems highly unnatural, so it could be possible." I drew my legs closer to my chest and shuddered, suddenly feeling a lot colder. I usually wasn't one to be scared by ghost stories, since I was always bothered by the fact that they didn't make sense scientifically. Which, by the way, had frustrated my brothers to no end when we were kids. Yeah, I hadn't been that fun to have around when my brothers wanted to tell ghost stories and freak each other out. I, on the other hand, had never been bothered by ghost stories or monsters and demons, since I knew they couldn't possibly be real. It wasn't until Sensei pulled me aside and told me that I had to understand that they were stories and meant to be enjoyed. And even if I didn't find them scary, I could just sit back and listen to the stories while my brothers scared themselves out of their shells. No need to ruin the fun for them, right? And I did listen, and started to enjoy them more and more as I grew older, but I never found the stories about monsters or demons to be scary or unsettling. But this particular story really made my skin crawl and made me feel a bit apprehensive. The Professor noticed this as he came out of the dining room and came up to me with a cup of hot chocolate in his hand.

"Don't worry, Donatello. The Wendigo is more than likely just a monster the Salamandarians came up with to scare their children with or to find a reason for what happened to this planet. And even if it does exist, which I highly doubt, I do not think it can come in here, or get down into the caves. There's nothing alive down there, so why would it go to the trouble? The girls will be fine." He gave me the cup and rested a comforting hand on my shoulder. I looked down and sipped on the hot chocolate and the worry started to dissolve in my stomach. It wasn't entirely gone, but I started to feel a little better. I smiled.

"Thank you. Both of you." Traximus smiled and left the room, and the Professor walked up to the computers to turn of some of the ship's functions so we could spare fuel; I stayed where I was on the steps and sipped on my chocolate. But even though I wasn't quite as worried anymore, I still looked out at the forest outside the window. Although it wasn't as strong anymore, my worry was still there and made think of the girls, down in those caves.

 _'I hope you're okay, girls. And please, be safe.'_

I sighed and reached down into my belt, digging out my t-Phone and looking at the photo of my family that I had decided to use for a background. It had been taken the day we had defeated the Kraang in that first invasion and were partying in the dojo. The smiling faces and poses of my brothers and April gave me another pang of homesickness that hit me right in the heart. I could've been there right now. If it hadn't been for my own stupidity and thoughtlessness, none of this would have happened. I would be home with my brothers and we would go out and try to fight the Kraang and the Foot Clan to protect our city from danger. And I could've still had April to cheer me up with her mere presence whenever I felt down. But instead I was mixed up in saving an entire planet, and had to put my trust into the hands of aliens that were a little more than strangers. And right now we were on a planet of Death with some kind of demon possibly walking around. I sighed and rested my head in my hands.

"Oh man, what have I gotten myself into?"

* * *

The only sounds we could hear for the next twenty minutes were water dripping from the ceiling of the cave, the beeping of Donnie's little tracking-amulet-thing, and our own footsteps. The air was a little clearer down here than it had been up there, so we had all taken off our helmets, but the smell of rotten flesh was still mixed with the smell of cave water and moss. None of us felt like saying anything, or knew what to say. Jhanna was taking the lead and had a flashlight in one hand and her sword in the other. I was walking behind Mona and Jhanna and had a flashlight in my hand, and I couldn't help but look at the surroundings. It was just so cool to see a real cave, even if it was really scary at the same time. Mona was carrying a flashlight and Donnie's little tracker, and it seemed to tell us we were getting closer. The beeping had grown louder and faster as we got farther and farther into the caves. But I would be lying if I said it wasn't annoying to listen to that beeping for this long.

Jhanna seemed to think so too. After a few minutes, she groaned and glared down at the tracker in my hand. "Ugh, he just had to make that thing beep, didn't he? I swear, I can't concentrate on my thoughts anymore- all I hear is that beeping!" Mona rolled her eyes and looked to the side, mumbling 'what thoughts?' to herself, but Jhanna didn't seem to hear her. Then she sighed and placed one hand on her hip.

"Well, it wouldn't do much if it was just glowing, would it? I mean, at least the beeping's telling us that we're getting closer to what we're looking for, right?" Jhanna rolled her eyes and drew her fingers through her bangs.

"Yes, I realize that! But with the way that thing is beeping it's only a matter of time before someone else hears it. We might as well just yell at the Triceratons that we're here and send them coordinates." Mona lowered her flashlight and glared over at Jhanna.

"I didn't see you think of anything better when we were discussing tactics up at the ship. If you had any better ideas, why didn't you say anything?" Jhanna glared back and took a step towards her.

"Hey, watch your tone with me, Forest Girl. You know I can-" I rolled my eyes, placed a hand on their shoulders and pushed them apart, like Donnie had done with both of them back at the ship.

"Hey, stop it! We don't have time for this! The Triceratons are probably down on this planet, too. And even more likely is that they're around here looking for the device. And your yelling at each other is just gonna attract their attention. If they find out we're here, we're all gonna be in big trouble. So I suggest you girls take whatever issues you two have with each other, suck them up, and deal with it later. Now, come on!" I pushed myself past Jhanna, snatched the tracker from Mona's hand and took the lead, walking further down the cave and not waiting for any response. Jhanna grumbled a little and started to walk after me. But I could hear her mumble to herself:

"When did you suddenly grow a backbone?" I stopped short in my tracks, turned around and looked her straight in the eyes and tried my best to stare her down like Donnie had done. And this time it seemed to work, as she jerked back a little and her annoyed glare or sly smirk was long gone. But before she could say anything, I stomped my foot as hard as I could. I had had just about enough of her attitude.

"Okay, you listen up, Jhanna. I don't know what your problem is, and frankly I don't really care. But I decided to come along on this mission because I wanted to make sure the Triceratons stop terrorising the galaxy and won't blow up our friend's home! I want to do something good for once, and not just be associated with a species that cause pain and death to others! And Donnie has trusted us with the fate of his whole planet! I don't know about you, but I'm not gonna break that trust. This mission is bigger than both of us. Billions of lives are at stake here, and guess what? You don't know as much as you think you do, and you don't know best just because of how you grew up! So I suggest that you zip it, 'cause no one here is interested in listening to your holier-than-thou attitude!" Jhanna looked at me with wide eyes and her mouth hung open. Even Mona stared at me, but she had more admiration in her eyes. Then Jhanna seemed to shake herself out of her daze and tried to look at me with the same indifference she usually had.

"What exactly are you trying to say here, Starlee?"

I barely let her finish that sentence and never once broke eye contact with her. "I'm saying that I'm not gonna put up with your crud anymore, Jhanna, and no one else on our team should be forced to, so why don't you just take your attitude and stuff it!" I gave her one last glare, then turned around and kept walking down the dark tunnel. I let out a breath and suddenly felt a little giddy. I had done it. I had finally had the guts to say what I wanted to Jhanna and didn't back down. Finally! Maybe now she would stop looking at me like I had no brains or like I was a stupid brat and she knew best about everything. Mona came running up to me with a small smile on her face and she lightly punched me on the shoulder.

"Nice, there, Star. I was starting to wonder how long it would take for you to stand up to her." I looked down at her and raised an eyebrow.

"You don't think I went too far, did you?" Mona smirked and shook her head lightly.

"Are you kidding? It was about time someone knocked her down a few pegs. Her ego needs it." I heard Jhanna growl behind us and she shoved her way through us and took the lead again. I caught a glimpse of her face and it was scrunched up in anger, but for a split second I could swear I saw a bit of hurt. But I only got a second to look at her before she was five feet ahead of me and both Mona and I had hurry a little so we wouldn't lose her. The next following minutes were just as silence, only this time it felt much more awkward. I looked up at Jhanna and suddenly she looked so lonely. She and Mona obviously didn't like each other that much, but now after I had blown up at her, she suddenly didn't look half as tough she always tried to look. I bit my lip and looked away from her. I didn't want to feel bad, but the feeling still managed to sneak its way through the walls I tried to build up to keep them out.

I started to look around the cave again to distract myself from my thoughts and feelings, but then something on the wall made me stop short in my tracks and stare at the marks I saw. My eyes widened a little and I took a few steps closer to get a better look. I hummed to myself and examined it, thinking over what the Professor and Donnie had said back on Filione and on the ship, then I turned to look at Mona and Jhanna, who had kept walking a bit further down the tunnel.

"Hey, guys? Didn't Donnie and the Professor say that there was nothing alive on this planet?" I heard Jhanna sigh lightly and then she turned to look at me over her shoulder.

"Uh, yeah, they did." I turned back to the wall and tilted my head.

"Then what the heck could have done _this_?" Both Mona and Jhanna stopped and looked back at me, looked at each other and then came running back to see what I had found. Not exactly a very comforting sight. In the cave wall were long, deep and crooked marks, running from the ceiling almost all the way down to the ground. And the tunnels weren't that high to begin with. What made it worse was that there were more than a few marks; there had to be at least ten pairs of scratches on either side on the tunnel. Mona leaned in close to the marks in the wall, examining them with a careful eye.

"Hm, claw marks," she muttered to herself and ran her fingers over them. Jhanna nodded and directed her flashlight at them.

"Yeah, _huge_ claw marks." She ran her fingers against the edge of one of the scratches and then looked at her fingers, seeing a little dust on them. "Looks like they're fresh, too, but that's impossible. There's nothing down here." Mona retracted her hand from the wall and folded her arms over her chest.

"Nothing according to the computers, anyway." She was just stating the truth, but it was still an uncomfortable truth to face. Just because the computers said something, didn't necessarily make it true. And, who knew? It might the Wendigo himself down here. We fell into silence again, then Jhanna shook her head and gestured at us to keep going.

"Come on, we have to keep moving. If there really is something down here, we don't want it to figure out where we are. Or that we're here at all. Let's go." She placed an arm around me and led me down the tunnel and Mona came after us, if not a little tentatively, and we kept walking. Jhanna eventually removed her arm from me, but I kinda wished she had kept it there. Knowing there might be a monster down here, or maybe even the Wendigo himself, suddenly made me feel like this wasn't quite as exciting an adventure anymore.

The tunnel led downwards for a few miles. After a while I started to wonder how far down under the ground we were, but it just kept going and going. The ground became a bit steeper, so after awhile we started walk slower and more cautiously to make sure we wouldn't slip and hurt ourselves or slide all the way down to the bottom.

 _'Why would anyone willingly go down here, anyway? One wrong step and you could break your neck,'_ I thought to myself, and almost slipped when I stepped on a few small pebbles. But Donnie's amulet-thingy was going off like crazy and the beeping got louder and quicker the deeper we walked, which meant we were going the right way.

Finally, after walking down that steep slope for what felt like hours, the tunnel finally opened itself up and we walked out into a big cave with a small opening in the roof where moonlight shone through, lighting up the cave. Thankfully the ground was flat and felt a lot better to walk on. In the middle of the cave was a huge hole, which revealed one of those underground lakes that the Professor had told us about. I felt really thirsty, so I walked over to the lake, knelt down at the edge and scooped up some water in my hands and brought it up to my nose. It smelled alright. But... despite how thirsty I was and how raw and dry my throat felt after so much walking, I didn't want to take the risk of drinking the water. I mean, if the planet was consumed by Black Matter, then why would the water be any different?

I let the water slip through my fingers and watched as it rippled the surface, and looked down at the few luminescent fish that swam around down there. Most of them were light blue, but there were some purple and one or two yellow. But then something else caught my eyes. For a split second I thought I saw something else move down there. Now, there wasn't that much light down in this cave, and the light from the fish wasn't that strong, so I couldn't see what it was, if there was something. But I could swear that I saw something glowing down there- they looked like a pair of bright red eyes. But after just a second they were gone, so I just assumed my eyes had deceived me.

Mona sighed and relief and sat down on the ground, leaning back against the wall.

"Ugh, I'm exhausted. I need a break." Jhanna nodded and sat down close to her and wiped her sweaty forehead, but as I got back up on my feet, something on the other side of the lake caught my eye, and I looked over at the others with surprise.

"What, now? But we're so close to-" Jhanna glared up at me and brushed her hair from her eyes.

"Starlee, we've been walking for almost three hours now. We need to rest." I smiled slyly and pointed to my right.

"Really? You want to rest now, when we finally found what we were looking for?" Both Jhanna and Mona looked and then got to their feet when they saw what I was pointing at. A few feet away from the lake, in a slightly smaller cave, we saw something. It was made out of metal, shaped like an arc, and bigger than all three of us. But there was no denying what it was.

"The Black Hole Generator piece! I can't believe it, we found it!" Jhanna and I were about to run to the cave, but Mona quickly grabbed our arms and held us back.

"Wait! Doesn't this seem a little too easy? I mean, it's just lying there. This is a piece to the most dangerous weapon ever created, and it's open for anyone to take." Jhanna rolled her eyes and snatched her arm out of her grip.

"Who cares, Mona Lisa? We found it before the Triceratons did, now we have to grab it and get out of here before they get here! Come on!" She ran up to the device with me and Mona not too far behind. As we got closer, we saw how big the thing was and no doubt it was heavier than it looked. But we had found it, and right now that was all I cared about. Jhanna was about to walk up to it, but I stopped her.

"Wait, we should try to get rid of that Black Matter before we touch it. We'll see if Donnie's device works, just in case." I walked up to the device, still with Donnie's amulet in my hand, but was careful not to get too close or to let the substance touch me. The end was dripping with something, something black that looked like oil. I looked down at the device in my hand and then back at the machine.

"Okay, what do I do now?" I remembered the button that opened the thing and pressed it, hoping it would give some answers. The effect was immediate. The second after the amulet opened itself, the oil-like substance seemed to float out of the machine or up from the ground and flew through the air, flowing into the device, until every single drop of it was seemingly gone and the amulet slammed itself shut. It all happened under just a few seconds, but it still left us all surprised. I looked up at the girls and they looked up at me.

"Whoa..." We all said in perfect unison. I looked down at the device in my hand and then put it around my neck, so I could use both hands to lift the fragment. "Now, come on. Let's get this thing and get out." They nodded and we moved to lift the thing. It wasn't quite as heavy as I thought it was gonna be, but it was still really, really heavy. It took all of our combined strength to lift it three feet off the ground, and that was not much. And we were much slower now, since we couldn't exactly run with it in our carry. Mona grunted and her face turned a darker shade of green as she struggled to lift it.

"Ugh, I just hope Donnie's not expecting us to be back soon." None of us answered, but we all silently agreed with her. It took us three hours to get down here, and it would most likely take us twice as long to get back up there. At the very least. I strained my own muscles to help us much as I could, though it really wasn't much compared to Jhanna and Mona, who had been training and fighting all of their lives while I had been stuck inside a computer room or a classroom my whole life.

"Well, look on the bright side: at least the Triceratons aren't here." I'd barely let the words leave my mouth before a loud * _BOOM_ * was heard at the other end of the cave and a bunch of big, bulky forms stormed in. When the dust finally settled we saw that they were Triceratons, about five or six of them, and they all had weapons in their hands. Their leader, Zog, had a bigger gun in his hand and I assumed he had used it to create the opening they came through. His eyes quickly fell on us.

"You again? What are YOU doing here?" Then his eyes fell on the big piece of machinery we tried to carry between us and pointed at us with his gun. "They have the Heart of Darkness! Stop them!"

Jhanna glared at me over her shoulder. "You just _had_ to jinx it, didn't you?!" She rested the weight of the machine on her shoulder and grabbed the gun she kept in her belt, aiming it at the Triceratons, and Mona Lisa did the same thing, grabbing the knife she carried around with her. The Triceratons took aim as well and were about to fire at us. But Zog just smirked wickedly at us and rested his gun over his shoulder.

"Alright, girls, take it easy. Put down your weapons. We wouldn't anyone to get hurt, would we? Just hand over the Heart of Darkness, and we might consider letting you get out of here with your lives." Mona sneered at him and gripped her knife tighter.

"Yeah, right, Zog. As if you'd ever walk out on a chance to beat up kids who are smaller than you! We're not stupid, and you're not getting this piece!" Zog narrowed his eyes at us.

"Well then. I suppose I will just have to kill you, and then take the piece from you. How does that sound?" Jhanna and Mona just glared at him, ready to fight. But in the corner of my eye, I saw the red things in the lake come back and get closer to the surface. I narrowed my eyes at what I saw and my idea that they were eyes become stronger.

"Uh, Jhanna...?" Jhanna shook her head at me.

"Not now, Starlee. We have to get this piece out of here, ASAP."

"Yeah, but Jhanna, I really think that we should-" I didn't get that far before something came bursting out of the lake with a loud screech. A long, furry tentacle-looking arm with long sharp, crab-like claws came bursting through the water and swiped at the Triceratons, making them fly straight into the wall. Zog managed to jump out of the way and started to shoot at it. The monster screeched even louder and another arm came out of the lake and swiped at us before it started to attack Zog again, who just kept shooting at it. We got the Black Hole Generator piece over us, so it took a while for us to get back on our feet and pick up the device again. The monster had managed to scratch my arm with its claw, Mona had hit her face against the ground and had a few bruises on her cheek and around her eye, and Jhanna had scraped her leg on a sharp rock, but otherwise we were okay.

The monster had now shot up two other tentacles and tried to fight off the Triceratons, who were firing at it like madmen. Mona gaped at it with big eyes and I tried my best to hide behind the others.

"What is that thing?" Mona asked with fear in her voice. Jhanna looked over at the fight with the monster and the Triceratons, then up at the roof, then behind us at the tunnel came through, then gestured at us to move closer to the opening. When we had taken a few steps inside the tunnel again, she pointed her gun at the roof.

"A distraction." That was all she said before she fired and a couple of boulders fell from the roof, blocking the tunnel completely. We lit our flashlights again and started to pull the big device up the steep, slippery slope we had just finished walking down not ten minutes ago, but we still heard Zog's voice through all those big, heavy rocks.

"Stop them! Blow up those rocks if you have to! Do not let them get away!" Jhanna shoved me forward and gave me her flashlight.

"Starlee, you show the way with the light! Mona, help me carry this thing! We can't stop for a second. This won't stop them for long, we have to keep moving!" And so we started up the steep slope again, with me in the lead and doing my best to not walk too fast, since the girls would not be able to keep up. But it's not easy to walk up such a steep slope, knowing the enemy was right behind you and also knowing you couldn't go too fast because your friends couldn't walk as fast you.

You know, suddenly splitting up didn't seem like such a good idea anymore.

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 **A/N: Uh oh, trouble down in the caves! Well, here's to hoping they'll get out alright. I'm sorry if the monster came a bit out of nowhere, but don't worry, it will serve a bit of purpose the next following chapters and it's not just something I threw in because I had to come up with ideas on how they would escape the Triceratons. I wanted to have a monster down in the caves, so I made one up! Or is there more of them? Hmm...**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	50. Chapter 49, What do we do now?

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Hi! This week I am early with a new chapter, since I am on a short break from school, and I am taking full advantage of that. So this week I hope to bring this chapter and then a one-shot I have been working on for a while. And this one-shot takes places in the A Million Miles Apart universe, so if you like this story, hopefully you'll like that one too.**

 **One a side note, who else is happy that Zootopia won an Oscar? 'Cause I sure am! Go, Zootopia, I will love you forever!**

 **Hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

* * *

Chapter 49, What do we do now?

Three hours had gone by and we had not heard from the girls since they left- it was really starting to eat at me. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm certain the girls can take care of themselves and get out without many problems, but...

I had tried to follow Traximus and the Professor's advice to relax a little. I took a shower, drank some tea and had even tried to meditate to calm my nerves. And anyone who knows me knows that meditation and 'being one with the universe' and all that spiritual stuff Master Splinter taught us was not exactly something I willingly did. I wasn't even that good at it. I blame my brain for that, since it never seems to be able to shut up! I guess that's why meditating hadn't exactly calmed my nerves.

I was currently sitting in the control room and sipping my third cup of tea- quite the feat, considering I hated tea. Especially Splinter's 'calming' herbal teas. But if they could help me relax even the slightest bit, I would take it. If Leo could see me right now, drinking tea like this, he would never let me hear the end of it since I always went on and on about how herbal tea tasted like puke.

"Why are you drinking herbal tea, Donnie? Don't you always say that you wouldn't be caught dead drinking that stuff?" I mumbled to myself mockingly in my brother's voice and sipped some more tea, grimacing at the taste, and straining the muscles in my whole body so I'd swallow it without it making a reappearance. I groaned and put the cup aside. This wasn't working. I needed to get out of here. I needed to get out and stretch my legs a little. I knew that Traximus and the Professor would never let me go outside alone on a planet like this, but I really needed some time alone with my thoughts right now. And yes, I could get that inside here, too, but I needed to get out of the ship and be completely alone for a bit.

I stood up from my seat and headed towards the doors that led outside, using every ounce of stealth that Splinter had infused into me and carried my bo-crutch under my arm so it wouldn't give me away. Traximus was still training and the Professor was looking over the computers and trying to find any info on the other two pieces of the Black Hole Generator- without any success, it seemed. I reached the other room without any problems and started to put my suit back on. It was a little tricky, partly because of my injured leg and partly because I had to make as little noise as possible. But I managed, though the metal on the legs and feet of the suit sometimes hit the ground, making a bit of noise, but thankfully not enough to garner any unwanted attention.

I grabbed my helmet and was about to head outside when I felt a strong hand land on my shoulder, halting my exit. "Going outside alone is not a very wise idea, Donatello." I groaned, leaning my head slightly backwards, and my shoulders slumped in defeat. I turned around to face Traximus, who seemed to have finished training at some point and had taken a shower, seeing how he was dripping wet. I sighed and fingered the helmet in my hands.

"Don't try to stop me, Traximus. I really need to get out of this sardine can and air out my thoughts and-" Traximus removed his hand from my shoulder. His face was hard to read, but he didn't seem either angry at me or like he was trying to play the leader card with me, like Leo sometimes did back at home.

"I won't." I stopped talking and did a double take. What? He wasn't going to stop me from possibly putting myself in danger? Huh, that was new. My arms dropped to my sides; the helmet bounced slightly against my leg.

"You're not?"

Traximus shook his head and put his hand back on my shoulder. "Donatello, I have come to learn that sometimes children need to learn the hard way, and the more you tell them no, the more they're going to want to disobey the orders given to them. Besides, I am not- nor do I intend to take the place of- your father, and I believe you are old enough to make decisions for yourself. So if you're willing to go outside and face the dangers this planet may throw at you, then I won't stop you. Go on."

He stepped out of my way and made a gesture at the door. I stared up at him for a while, then looked at the door that led outside. I looked up at Traximus again and then shrugged lightly.

"Oh, well, um... thank you, Traximus." I grabbed my staff, which I still held under my arm, put it in the holster on my back. I was about to walk outside when Traximus grabbed my arm, making me look over my shoulder at him.

"But, should you need help, know that we are right here if you need us." I nodded with a small smile on my face.

"Duly noted; thank you." I gently pulled my arm from his grip and opened the doors to the ship, swiftly making my exit. I heard the doors slide shut behind me, and I decided to study the glen I was standing in. Or, glen might not the be right word- it was more of a clearing, where no trees grew. The forest seemed to grow in a half-circle around the ship and the opening to the mountain.

I sat down on a boulder and rested my chin in my hands, sighing heavily. You would think that after spending three months in space, the feeling of homesickness would eventually become less prominent after experiencing it for so long; that you eventually grow used to it being there and would find ways to ignore it. But no, of course not. I missed home just as much as I had when I woke up in the Professor's cave on D'hoonib.

In a way, I wanted to be angry at my family. I wanted to stay mad at how they had treated me and not forgive them so easily. And I had my moments of being angry or a little bitter at them, but I still managed to find myself missing them more than I resented them. After being with them for almost sixteen years, I felt like a huge part of me was gone. Like half of me was missing. It felt completely wrong to be out on a mission on my own, without them to back me up.

A sudden prickling feeling on the back of my neck and the sound of rustling leaves made me snap out of my thoughts and I quickly got back up on my feet, pulling the bo staff out of its holster on my back. I looked around the glen and started to make my way to the treeline- I didn't even pay attention to the fact that I was getting further and further away from the ship and started to make my way into the woods. The sound of rustling leaves got louder and was joined by the sound of a few twigs snapping under someone's feet. I couldn't see anyone or anything yet because of the sky getting darker and the moon's light not being strong enough to give much illumination- it was too far away. It seemed that Zerij was so toxic that even its own moon wanted nothing to do with it.

But then, I saw something. A few feet into the foliage on my left, something was making its way through the forest. It seemed to be almost as big as the trees around me, at least ten feet tall, and it had skinny upper arms, almost like bones and branches. Something stuck out of its head, something that looked like antlers, but I couldn't see very well. But the scariest part was the pair of glowing yellow eyes that stared directly at me, making me freeze in my tracks and stare back at the being in front of me. That was all I really saw, and I didn't get a long look before it turned its head and started to walk away, making the ground shudder with every step it took. For a long time all I could do was stare in the direction in which it had walked off. Then the prickling in my neck returned and I turned around. Just in time, too, as a figure with fiery red hair and a raised sword came flying at me from behind, screaming out a battle cry.

I raised my bo staff and easily blocked her attack, trying to stay calm, and smirked at her as her face scrunched up in fury. "You know, Moriah, if you really want a sneak attack to be effective, maybe a battle cry isn't the smartest thing to do. Just a little tip for the future." I gathered all of my strength and pushed Moriah away; she stumbled into a tree and dropped her sword, which made her yelp in pain. But she recovered quickly and growled at me, picked up her sword again and swung it at my head. I tried to dodge her attacks and block them with my staff as best as I could, but it's not easy to jump around and block attacks at the same time when you have a wonky patella. I gritted my teeth and did my best to hide the pain, swinging my staff at her legs. She blocked and kicked me in the chest, sending me into a bush. I'm certain I crushed the bush quite a bit, and it took some time for me get back up again, but she seemed to be kind enough to at least let me get back up before she started to fight me again. Huh. How polite.

She pointed her sword at me and her green eyes were burning with anger. "Where are my sisters? And where is the Fugitoid?" She spat, her fiery hair hanging in front of her eyes, making her look even wilder than she had any other time I had seen her. I narrowed my eyes and gripped my bo tighter.

"What's it to you, _princess_?" I made sure to spit out the word like it was something foul. "You're not their boss." She grit her teeth and swung her sword at my neck, then aimed a kick at my chest.

"No, I'm their older sister!" Her kick made me stumble back, but I didn't lose my balance and blocked her second attack, aimed at my head. "I have the right to know where they are! And the Fugitoid is Federation property- he belongs to my father!" I held back a growl and launched my foot into her gut. She grunted in pain and gripped at her abdomen, dropping her sword in the process, which gave me enough time to grab her arms in a tight grip, twisting one up against her back and locking a grip on the other arm with my elbow. She sucked in a breath and tried to make me lose my grip on her by smashing the back of her head against my face, to no avail.

"Professor Honeycutt is a grown man and humanoid. He is not property of anyone or anything, especially not the likes of your despicable father, Moriah!"

She snarled at me and managed to land a painful kick on my knee. My bad knee. I cried out in agony and lost my grip on her, dropping to my other knee. She immediately took advantage of that and punched me in the temple, making me fall to the ground. Before I could get back up on my feet again, she placed her boot against my face, right on my scar, and pushed me down, keeping me pinned on the ground and placing her sword against my throat.

"Don't you dare talk about our general like that! He is a true leader and a strong warrior. Not like you, a cowering, disgusting, spineless little reptilian guttersnipe! You know nothing about honor." She then held back a laugh. "What am I saying? You're a reptile! You don't know anything at all! Everything you are is a lowlife, worthless little street rat, and that's all you will _ever_ be!" She kicked me in the face and seemed to believe it knocked me out, but I was still awake. I just couldn't get my body to obey my commands. My brain was a jumble, but my thoughts were as loud as church bells in my head.

 _'Call for help! Call for Traximus, he can help you take care of her'_ , the rational part of my brain yelled at me, angry that I was stupid enough to think I could handle anything on my own with a busted kneecap. But other voices started to call out to me as well, drowning out the sound of my rational brain.

 _'She's right, you know. You are worthless. You are nothing but a worthless street rat, and that will never change. It's what you were, are and always will be. You will never be like the son Master Splinter wants you to be',_ the other part of my brain taunted at me, and Moriah's words echoed in my head. They were then suddenly joined by other voices. Very familiar voices.

 _"They're aliens from another dimension! What did you expect!? A big round ball with a lit fuse that says BOMB!?"_

 _"Wait, do you still think you have a shot with her?"_

 _"No, not the pizza guy! Take Donnie!"_

 _"You've done nothing but mess up and have almost killed us more than once!"_

 _"No, Donnie! Right now, all you need to think of is making sure that the Shellraiser is ready for tonight. Nothing else matters right now."_

 _"Whatever! All I care about is that you fulfill your duty to this team. If you can't do that, what the heck are you good for, then?"_

 _"I hope you remember this moment the next time you think you'll ever be anything more than weak, pathetic little terrapin freak!"_

I gritted my teeth as the insults and berating in my head got louder and louder, and no matter how much I tried blocking it out, it wouldn't go away. I felt Moriah press her sword against my throat, ready to slice.

"And now you will tell me what I need to know, reptilian scum! Or I will cut off limb after limb until you beg for death." I couldn't answer. The voices inside grew louder and louder until it felt like they were screaming at me. But this time, I didn't feel like less of a turtle when I heard them. I got angry. Angry at them, at everyone who had looked at me and told me that I was worthless or only good for being smart or the butt of everyone's jokes. I gritted my teeth until it felt like they would shatter, my eyes flew open and I gripped the sword that was still pressed against my neck.

"No."

Moriah's smirk turned into a slightly surprised and slightly annoyed frown and stared down at me with a raised eyebrow. "What did you say, scum?" I glared up at her, letting loose a growl, and gripped the sword tighter. I didn't care about the fact that the sharp blade was now imbedded in the flesh of my palm, and in a calculated move I gripped the flat sides of the blade with my fingertips to better distribute the weight and avoid cutting my hand in half and wrenched the sword from her grip, simultaneously jerking her closer so I could solidly kick her in the chest, sending her flying away from me and into a tree. I got back to my feet, ignored the searing pain in my leg, and snarled down at her as she rubbed her head and moaned. My knee was screaming in agony and begging me to sit down again, but I clenched my teeth to try and ignore it and looked down at her with fury burning in my eyes.

"I said NO!" I tried to breathe calmly through my teeth; the anger in my blood made me ignore the pain in my hand and my knee and kept my eyes locked on Moriah, who was now on her hands and knees. The still rational part of my brain told me to contact the Professor or Traximus and call for help, but that part was quickly being overshadowed by my anger and frustration. No. I was not gonna back down and call for help. Not this time! This time I was going to stand tall and fight for myself and show this wannabe princess who she was messing with. I took a deep breath, clenched my fists and stood up, strong, tall and proud.

"You're wrong, you're all _wrong_! I am _not_ a worthless street rat! I am Hamato Donatello, son of Hamato Yoshi, grandmaster of Ninjutsu and the last born heir of the Hamato Clan! I was born and raised on planet Earth, I am a genius in mathematics and engineering and a trained ninja warrior! I am on this journey to save my planet from a crazed alien species and the weapon known as the Black Hole Generator! And I am _not_ going down at the hands of the likes of _you_!" I pointed at her face and Moriah looked up from the ground, suddenly looking at me in a twisted sense of awe. Clearly this was not something she had expected from someone like me. A reptile. I narrowed my eyes at her.

"You want a piece of me? Come and get it." I beckoned her with my hand, trying to look as tough as I possibly could- as tough as I felt. I had had just about enough of people telling me I was nothing, and I was not gonna take it from some 'Daddy's Little Angel' like Moriah.

Her face scrunched up in anger once more, she gripped her sword with both hands, and came flying towards me with an angry screech flying off her lips. I clenched my fists and braced myself for a fight. She swung her sword at my head, I dodged and punched her in the stomach again. She leaned forward and grabbed at it for a split second, then got back up and aimed kick at my face. I raised an arm to block it and swung my leg out, knocking her off her feet. She quickly got up again, though, and jumped into the air with her blade raised over her head, yet another yell of determination escaping her. I smirked lightly, braced myself, raised my good leg and landed another kick on her chest. Moriah flew backwards, dropping the sword, and flew straight into a tree. It almost knocked her out, but she was still- somehow- conscious. But she'd also hit her head when she hit the tree and was obviously very dazed, so I walked up to her, cool as a cucumber, knelt down in front of her and pressed my finger on the spot in her neck where I knew there was a pressure point.

"Good night," I whispered and pressed against her neck, making her jerk in surprise, and then knocked her out completely, "and good riddance." I stood up straight and looked down on her. The wind blew through my mask's tails and I let the feeling wash over me. I had won. I had actually beaten Moriah! Even with a bad leg, I had still won against her, even after she had kicked me to the ground. And this time, she hadn't escaped in the last second. I had actually beaten her. Hah! Take that, Warrior Princess. I took a deep breath and let out a snort of disdain at her.

"How's _that_ for a worthless street rat?" I snapped as a sudden beeping was heard from my gauntlet. I looked down in surprise at my arm, then brought it up to my face so I could see on display who was calling me. A quick look told me that it was Jhanna, so I pressed the button to answer the call.

"Hello? Jhanna?"

* * *

"Come on, move it! Starlee was a few feet ahead of us, showing us where to go with my flashlight and lighting her own way with hers. Mona and I were going very slowly since we had to carry a heavy piece of technology on our shoulders which was slowing us down immensely. The only reason I wasn't snapping at Starlee for yelling at us was because I was too tired and sore from carrying this piece up the steep slope for this long. I heard Mona mutter something to herself, but she didn't answer Starlee either. I tried to heave the piece further up on my back and shoulders, feeling my knees wobble under me, and I almost fell to the ground.

"We're going as fast as we can, Star! _You_ try carrying a huge hunk of metal on your shoulders- 's not easy!" I didn't have the energy to make it a fully scathing remark, but it was still loud and sharp enough for Starlee to take the hint. She started to look around the tunnel, but then we all froze in our tracks when we heard a loud explosion from behind us. Then, as if that wasn't bad enough, we heard Zog's loud voice echo throughout the cave system.

"Hurry, men- find them! Find them and take the fragment! Destroy anything that gets in your way!" Mona whimpered lightly under the weight of the piece and bit her lip.

"Ugh, we'll never beat them and keep their hands off this thing! They'll catch up in no time!" I bit my lip so hard it started to bleed and looked around the tunnel, trying to think of what we should do. Then we both looked up when we heard Starlee's voice call out, a few feet ahead of us.

"Guys, come on! In here!" She had disappeared into a smaller cave and stuck her head out of the opening, waving at us frantically. Mona and I eyed each other, heaved the piece up on our shoulders and walked as fast as we could through the small opening, dropping the Black Hole Generator piece on the ground with a loud * _SLAM_ *. But we weren't quite done yet. Starlee stood at a big boulder and pushed at it with all of her weight pressed against it.

"Hurry, help me move this!" Mona and I ran over to her and pushed the boulder with her. At first it felt like nothing happened at all, but then after a while the boulder started to move and we eventually moved it so it covered the opening completely. Once we were done, both Mona Lisa and I sank down to the ground and started to pant in complete and utter exhaustion. Starlee was still up and had her ear pressed against the wall, listening for the Triceratons. A few minutes of complete silence followed, then she looked down at us with a finger over her mouth to tell us to be quiet. Not a second later, we heard the Triceratons run past the cave, yelling and shouting at the top of their lungs to find us and instructing where the troops should head. I guess they were in such a hurry, they didn't see the boulder that covered the opening to the tiny cave.

As we waited for the Triceratons to pass us by, I looked around the cave we were currently trapped in- although calling it a cave was being very, very generous. We were sitting on a ledge, about thirty feet long and ten feet wide, and in front of us was huge abyss, taking up more than two thirds of the entire space. Our little platform was like one fifth of the whole area. Starlee, who still had her ear pressed against the wall, eventually sighed in relief and pulled away from the rock.

"Okay, they're gone now. I think we're safe." I snapped my head up, stood and went up to her, my tiredness and frustration bubbling up to the surface.

"Safe? Girl, we're trapped inside a giant cave!" I honestly didn't mean to snap at her, but right now I couldn't help it. I was tired and sore from carrying that thing on my shoulders up a steep slope with dangerous creatures and possibly an underground monster on my heels, so excuse me if I was a little cranky. Mona stood and stretched out her back and rolled her shoulders in circles to ease the soreness in them. She leaned her head to each side and her neck cracked slightly.

"Well, at least the Triceratons can't find us here. For now, anyway."

Starlee, always trying to be optimistic, tried to put on her usual smile and clapped her hands together. "Okay... don't worry, we can still fix this. We just need to find another way out of here." Mona rolled her eyes and leaned back against the wall, folding her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, but how? There's no way out except for that opening." I got close as I dared to the edge of the abyss, took a rock from the ground and dropped it down the hole. For a long time we heard nothing, but eventually we heard a very, very small thud as the rock hit the ground. Starlee winced a little when she heard the faint sound, and I stood up and stared down into the dark nothingness.

"And I guess climbing down isn't exactly an option, either," I muttered and walked over to the others. Mona rolled her eyes again and sat down on a smaller boulder, resting her chin in her hands.

"Ugh, great! So we're stuck here." I let out a heavy breath and brushed my fingers through my hair, pushing my bangs up on my head, then letting them fall back down over my forehead.

"Yes, thank you, Captain Obvious, for stating that. Very clarifying." Mona ignored me and leaned her head back against the wall.

"You know, they really should be more open about the dangers on their planet. 'Come to Zerij and enjoy or desolate planet's nature and wonderfully dangerous cave systems where you have the opportunity to get lost, break your necks or be attacked by monsters!'" She talked like someone from one of those annoying advertisements for other planets, and Starlee snickered a little and lightly punched Mona in the shoulder.

"You sound like a displeased tourist, Mona." Mona half-glared at her and stood up.

"Well, don't I have the right to be? What are we gonna do now?" Starlee didn't have an answer for that question, and even if she did no one had the time to answer anything anyway, because seconds after Mona had finished her question a low roar echoed throughout the abyss and we all froze in surprise and fear. Our eyes fell on the darkness a few feet away and looked down into the dark. We saw nothing, but we could still hear the soft rumbling from something moving down there. We backed away as far from the edge as we could and huddled close together. Nothing happened for a long time, but we still felt uneasy and scared.

"What was _that_!?" Mona eventually managed to whisper out, unable to tear her eyes away from the gaping hole in front of us. Neither Starlee nor I could answer that, but it wasn't hard to assume it was that monster we had seen before, down in the underground lake. But suddenly Starlee got a strange look in her eyes and looked up at us.

"Wait a minute, I just thought of something. If that monster down in that lake had tentacles and crab claws," she left her sentence unfinished, as if waiting for us to catch on, and I held back a groan and looked down at her with tired eyes.

"Yeah?"

Starlee continued, and she seemed to get more and more uneasy and grabbed onto our arms. "And if my guess is correct, it needs to stay down in the water to stay alive..." Both Mona and I looked at each other. None of us had thought of why that monster had lived in the water, but now that Starlee mentioned that, it probably DID need to stay down there. Suddenly the idea of that same monster being down in there didn't seem as likely anymore. Especially since the rock had obviously hit the ground, and not water.

"...Yeah?" Mona answered this time, and she was also starting to look a little more uneasy. Fear was more prominent her eyes now.

Starlee seemed to be counting every sentence on her fingers, as she placed one finger on another one for every sentence she had spoken so far, and now pressed her index finger on her ring finger. "...And it doesn't have claws..."

"...Yeah?" Mona and I answered in unison this time, our eyes glued to Starlee, waiting to hear her get to her point. And even she, at this point, seemed scared of what she was gonna say next. She looked at us and her eyes were drained of her usual optimism.

"...Then what made those claw marks in the cave wall?" The silence that followed was enough to make us all think about what could be down there. Our eyes eventually made their way back to the abyss and once again something could be heard moving around down there. Then we looked back at each other. I gulped and took a deep breath.

"We gotta get out of here- now!" Mona glared at me with half-shut eyes and put both hands on her sides.

"I ask again: _how_?" We all stopped to think. We couldn't go back, because there were Triceratons running around in the caves and we couldn't both battle them and keep the piece of the Black Hole Generator safe at the same time. We couldn't climb down, because there was a monster down there that could easily kill us since we had to keep an eye on the fragment. And even if there wasn't a monster down there, it would be damn near impossible to climb down with the Black Hole Generator too.

"Can't go back, can't go down..." Starlee mumbled quietly to herself. Then she looked up at the ceiling, and gasped lightly with a smile forming on her face. "Maybe we can go _up_!" Mona and I looked up at the ceiling and saw a big hole there, where we could see the moon shining faintly through and lighting up a fraction of this huge cave.

"Climb through that hole? Um, how exactly are we gonna do that?" Starlee rolled her eyes and looked at me with slight annoyance.

"By climbing- duh! Come on, Jhanna. You have a brain, use it!" I rolled my eyes too and shoved her slightly.

"Yeah, but how are we gonna carry that thing," Mona pointed at the Black Hole Generator piece that was still lying near the entrance to the cave, "all the way up there?" She pointed up to the hole. It wasn't that high, maybe twenty feet, and the wall seemed easy to climb on, so that was not the issue at all. It was that stupid machine. Starlee bit her lip and looked away.

"Right." Then her face lit up again. "How about if one of us climbs up and ties a rope to a strong tree or boulder, and then we tie the other end to the Black Hole Generator, and then we pull it up and out of the hole with us!" I folded my arms over my chest.

"One, we have no rope that's long enough to reach that far. And two, no rope we have is strong enough to be able to carry that thing out of a hole- and neither are we, for that matter." Starlee glared at me and folded her arms over her chest.

"Well then, why don't you come up with something better, miss 'I know best'? I'm trying to come up with ideas here, but if you know better than me, why don't you give us a plan?" I narrowed my eyes at her and leaned my face closer to hers.

"Well, if you got your head out of the clouds and used your brains for something for logical, then maybe I wouldn't have to!" She gritted her teeth and her hands dropped to her sides, but she clenched her hands into fists as if to contain her anger.

"Oh, so I'm the illogical one here, huh? At least I've actually learned some real facts! All you know is things thieves and crooks taught, which you don't even know if it's true!"

"Well, if you're so smart, how come you don't use that knowledge to help us instead of coming up with stupid, impossible ideas?" The fight would most likely have gone on for a great deal longer if it wasn't for Mona Lisa. She had placed her lightly clenched fist against her face as she tried to ignore us, but eventually decided she had had enough and walked up beside us and pushed us both away from each other.

"Hello, we don't have time to fight! Triceratons and monsters lurking in the caves, remember? We don't how long it will take for them to track the piece to here, and Donnie's counting on us to bring this piece back to the ship. He's put his trust in us, so you have to stop fighting, and we need to think of something, now!" Starlee and I looked at Mona, who never raised her voice, in surprise and then turned away from each other.

"Right, so what do we do, then?" Starlee snapped her fingers with a smile on her face.

"I've got it!" She reached into her belt and took a small gun from its holster. Mona quickly reacted, even quicker than me, and placed a hand on Starlee's arm before she could do anything with the gun.

"W-w-wait! Are you gonna shoot the monster?" Starlee's eyebrows narrowed and her face scrunched up in deliberation.

"I didn't even think of that." Then she shook her head wildly and looked at both of us. "N-no, no! This is a signal gun. I'm gonna use it to signal the others! We'll contact them, say that we need help, fire the gun through the hole and then they'll see the explosion in the sky and know where we are." Mona frowned a little and looked up at the hole, then back at us.

"Then why don't we just contact them and tell them we need help? I mean, firing off a gun that explodes like a firework? That can't be hard to miss. We might attract someone or something even more dangerous. If not other Triceratons, that is." I looked over at her and put my hands on my hips.

"Well, that's not really gonna help us much if they don't know where we are, is it? I mean, I for sure can't tell where we are, and if they try to go in through the tunnels like we did, they might just run into Triceratons and no one will be able to help anyone. I say we have to take the risk." Mona placed a hand against her mouth and bit down on one of her fingers. Then she took a breath and looked up at us again.

"Point taken. Okay, so who should we contact?" I raised my arm to about breast level and pressed on a few buttons on my gauntlet.

"I'll contact Donnie. He'll know what to do." The gauntlet beeped as it searched for Donnie's gauntlet, and it felt like it took forever for any response to come. Then, finally, Donnie answered.

 _"Hello? Jhanna?"_ I let out a breath of relief, but barely let him finish saying my name before I started to talk. And I had to hold myself back so I wouldn't start yelling at him.

"Donnie! We need help! We're trapped in a cave and there's no way out!" I usually hated to admit when I needed any help and would rather be caught dead than say I needed it, but in this case it didn't seem like I had much of a choice. Better a little humiliation than being killed by a monster. Donnie was quiet for second, and when he spoke again it was easy to tell that he was worried.

 _"What? Where are you? I'll get help!"_ Mona and Starlee came up to me and Mona leaned closer to my gauntlet so he could hear her.

"We had to hide from the Triceratons, so we hid in this cave we found. But we can't go through the entrance we came from, or they might find us. There's a hole in the roof but we can't climb through. We need you to come, and bring Traximus and the Professor with you! We're gonna need as much muscle as we can find." Donnie hummed a little and then spoke again.

 _"Well, I guess I can contact and tell them where to find us when I get to you. Might spare a little bit of time. But where are you? And why would we need muscle to climb out of a hole?"_ Starlee bit her lip and had a small smile of excitement on her face.

"We found it, Donnie. The Black Hole Generator piece. We have it right here!" Donnie was quiet for about a full minute. And when he finally spoke again I could practically see him smiling like an idiot.

 _"Y-you did? That's awesome, girls! I knew you could do it! Don't you worry, we'll have you outta there in no time. Just tell me where you are!"_ Starlee gripped her signal gun a little tighter.

"Okay, can you see the caves right now?"

" _Uhh... hang on!_ " Donnie was quiet for a minute but we could hear him run and pant as he did. Eventually we could hear him talk again. _"Okay, I see them now."_ Starlee smiled and aimed the gun at the hole in the ceiling.

"Good." She fired and a flare of fire and sparks flew up and out, and then exploded in the night sky. She turned back to the gauntlet. "Did you see that?" Donnie hummed again, this time in confirmation.

 _"Yeah, I saw it. I'll find you, just sit tight."_ His gauntlet disconnected from mine and we were left alone to our thoughts. But not even thirty seconds after the call was over, we heard another growl from the abyss in front of us. Mona backed away from the edge and Starlee grabbed onto her arm.

"Uh, you think we should have told Donnie about the monster down there?" I shook my head, but got closer to the others, my one hand resting on my gun.

"Nah, no need to put more pressure on him. We can handle it, should we have to." Another growl was heard and we huddled closer to each other again. Mona placed a protective arm around Starlee and held her hand on the handle of her knife.

"Hurry, Donnie, will ya?"

* * *

 **A/N: Ooh, and the suspense is rising. I'm sorry if Moriah showing up was a bit out of nowhere, since I haven't really mentioned her in a while, but there will be more of her on this planet, and not just this one fight, I promise.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	51. Chapter 50, All Shell Breaks Loose

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: What's the best thing to do when battling a cold? Rest and drink a lot of tea to help your soar throat? Nah, you write an action chapter for your fanfiction! That's how you battle illness!**

 **Anyway, IT'S PARTY TIME! I have officially made it to fifty chapters! And yes, technically I had it last time, if you want to be a stickler and count the prologue as a chapter, but I don't. There's a reason they're called prologue and epilogue: they are not chapters, they are there to start and finish the story. So I'm counting this as my fiftieth chapter.**

 **And due to this being a sort of milestone for this story, I come bearing a chapter that it a little longer than my usual chapters, and with a bit of action, a bit of drama and a little scary stuff (I hope it's scary for you guys, anyway). So sit back, relax, get a bag of snacks and enjoy my fiftieth chapter of A Million Miles Apart.**

 **And I also wanna say thank you for sticking with this story for this long, thank for your reviewing, favoriting and following!**

 **Let's dive right in!**

* * *

Chapter 50, All Shell Breaks Loose

Any one of you ever had a busted kneecap before? No? Well, if you haven't, then let me tell you that there are certain things you should not do or you're just gonna make the injury worse. One of the things the doctors would most likely say is: do not attempt to fight a crazy alien princess from a war-hungry planet and instead call for help should she attack you. Another thing they would more than likely say is: do not climb up a rocky, slippery and steep mountainside in an attempt to save your friends, and just call for others to help you do this instead. This is what a doctor would say to a patient with a leg injury. And it is what I would have said to my brothers if it had ended up being one of them. Well, minus the part about the alien princess, but you get my point. And I had done both these things within the span of one hour. Yeah, I would never be accepted into medical school, even if you were to overlook the part of me being a mutated turtle, having human intelligence and walking on two legs. A freak of nature, in other words. A freak of nature who shouldn't be hurting himself further.

But that was exactly what I was currently doing. I was climbing up a steep mountainside and doing my best to both ignore the pain in my leg and to not slip on gravel or a loose rock. Not the easiest task, if you're interested in knowing. Especially now, since Moriah's kick to my knee had made it hurt about ten times more than it had before. I reached up to grab onto a small ledge in the mountain, but it broke from the wall, which in turn made me lose my balance and I lost my grip on the wall. But before I could fall, I managed to grab onto a small tree growing on another ledge and managed to find a foothold. And for a few minutes I just hung there, with one foot hanging over the edge and the other one trying to lean most of my weight on a very small ledge, and one hand gripping onto a thin tree that felt like it'd be ripped out of place any second. I drew a shaky breath and leaned my forehead against the stone wall.

"Ugh, the things I do for my friends." I took another breath and started to climb again. After another five minutes, I finally heaved myself over the edge and sat down on the cold, dirty ground so I could catch my breath. I looked down at the ground and saw that it was about thirty feet down, making me realize that I had strained my leg even more than I thought I had, considering how many times I had almost fallen to the ground, and climbing thirty feet was probably not what Traximus or the Professor had meant when they told me to take it easy and not exert myself so much.

Anyway, after letting myself breathe for a few minutes, I got back up on my feet and started to search for the hole in the ground where Starlee's signal rocket had come from- not the easiest thing to do. Especially when you can't track your friends because of the planet's atmosphere messing with your gauntlet. It was as if the planet was screwing with us because it wanted to make things even more complicated for us.

I kept looking around and pulled my bo-staff from its holster and used it as a walking stick when the pain in my knee became a bit much for me to handle. I considered calling out for my friends, but, considering there were Triceratons running around on this planet, that didn't seem like such a good idea.

"How long do you think he's gonna take?" The sudden voice caught me off guard, and I almost gripped the bo-staff to get ready for a fight. But then the words and the voice sunk in and I realized it was Mona. And I'd barely realized it before I heard another familiar voice.

"He'll be here soon, I can feel it. Besides, we contacted him less then ten minutes ago; have a little patience." That was Starlee.

And Jhanna was quick to respond. "We don't have TIME to be patient, Starlee. The Triceratons might find us any second now, and there's a monster down here that might be hungry for three girls trapped in a cave. We have to get out here- now!" Starlee groaned and I could practically hear her roll her eyes at her sister. I nodded and put my staff back in its holster on my back.

'Yeah, keep talking. That way I can find you a lot faster,' I thought to myself and started to move towards the sound of their voices, watching my step carefully so I wouldn't fall down the hole and down to them. Then it would be even harder to get the piece to the ship. I heard Mona's voice again.

"Jhanna, please, lower your voice. You might agitate the monster if you're too loud." Finally, I saw it. Twenty feet ahead of me, close to a wilted old tree, was a hole, big enough to fit a normal sized car through. I hurried to the hole, kneeled down as close to the edge as I dared and leaned down carefully.

"Girls? Girls, are you there?" I saw them, sitting on the piece of the Black Hole Generator, a big piece of machinery shaped like an arch and so dark grey that it almost looked black. But it might also have been the lighting. The moment they heard my voice, the girls looked up and flew to their feet.

"Donnie! Finally, you found us!" I shrugged and smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry I couldn't get to you faster, but the atmosphere is messing with my tracker, and my leg won't let me hurry that much. But are you guys okay? No one's hurt, right?" Starlee shook her head and cupped her hand beside her mouth.

"No, we're okay. But we would really appreciate it if you help us get out of here as quick as possible."

I nodded and gave them a thumbs-up. "No problem. I'll send the coordinates to Traximus and the Professor. Hopefully they'll have a better time reading them, since they're inside the ship." I pressed on my gauntlet and called up the Professor and Traximus with the ship's comm radio. It took a while because of this planet's bad reception, but they eventually responded and I quickly explained the situation. It was worse after I told the Professor what I had done. The 'Donatello, how could you have been so foolish, going off on a dangerous planet with an injured knee to save your friends without telling any one of us and possibly endangering yourself when you can't fight properly' part. Yeah, he was more than a little ticked that I had gone off on my own without telling them about the girls' situation, but Traximus eventually calmed him down and said they would be there as quickly as possible and told us not to move from where we were. I heard Mona mumble 'yeah, don't worry, we're not going anywhere down here,' and couldn't help but chuckle at that. Once I had ended the call, I turned back to the girls.

"Traximus said he and the Professor will be here as soon as possible. Just hang in there." Starlee smiled and gave me a thumbs-up.

"Good. 'Cause I don't know how long we have until the Triceratons find us." I nodded, and then I finally remembered what they had been saying before. Something about a monster down there. I felt my blood freeze in my veins and swallowed before I looked over at Jhanna.

"Uh, Jhanna? What was that you said before? Something about a monster?" The girls looked at each other with wide eyes, but before anyone could answer, a low roar resounded throughout the cave and an equally low scrambling sound was heard, as if something was moving deep down in the cave system. Mona moved further away from the edge, Starlee gripped onto her arm and Jhanna's hand flew to the sword and gun in her belt.

"Does that answer your question, Donnie?" I jerked back a little when I heard the scrambling and almost slipped on a loose rock and fell down the hole. Thankfully I managed to grab onto a branch on the old tree beside the hole and pulled myself up again. I held onto the branch and tried to breathe deeply for a bit, and then turned back to the hole.

"Has the monster tried to attack you yet?"

Jhanna shook her head but kept her hands over her weapons. "No, but it feels like it's getting closer and closer to us. I can't tell how long it will take before that thing gets hungry and decides to grab a snack." She turned to Starlee and lightly pushed her towards the mountain wall. "Starlee, you should climb up there first." Starlee shook her head and placed both hands on her hips.

"No way, I am not gonna-" she was cut off by another low roar, her eyes widened and she pressed her lips into a thin line to hold back a scream. Her eyes eventually made their way towards the dark abyss and then back to her sister. Jhanna placed both hands on Starlee's shoulders, pulled her closer and almost shoved her face into hers.

"Look, Starlee, you can say what you want about me and my attitude, I don't really care right now. But if you think, for one second, that I am going to let you stay down here with a monster and Triceratons running around, then you are sorely mistaken. Now, go!" She finished her small lecture by giving Starlee a firm push towards the wall, causing her to almost slam her face against the sharp stones. Starlee looked over her shoulder at Jhanna with uncertainty before she turned back to the wall and started to climb. Mona walked up behind Starlee and watched where she placed her hands and feet. My guess was that she wanted to be there and catch her in case she slipped and fell. But Starlee barely got three feet off the ground before... well, it happened.

Out of the darkness of the pit, a giant furry thing came flying towards the girl. It had giant claws on its paws, along with a loud roar that almost made the walls shake. Starlee turned to look over her shoulder when she heard it, screamed in terror and almost let go of the wall, but instead pressed herself closer to it to evade the long, wickedly sharp claws. Jhanna immediately drew her gun and fired at the creature's paw as it got really close to Starlee and it screeched in pain, but still managed to leave a few scratches on her back. Starlee grunted in pain, but tried to keep her lips pressed together so the monster wouldn't hear her.

The arm/leg-thing that came out of the pit drew back a bit, but the monster started to reveal itself more. Three more arms appeared, a thin body and massive head with fangs sticking out of both the upper and lower sides of its mouth, like a few spiders I had seen in books and monster movies. It even had eyes like a spider, several beady black eyes that seemed almost lifeless. Not to mention the thing seemed almost bigger than life, considering it almost hit its head against the ceiling, and it was only visible from head to a little over stomach level. I couldn't hold back a gasp of fear and gripped the edges around the hole tighter out of reflex.

Mona drew her knife and got ready to fight back, Jhanna tightened the grip on her gun and looked over her shoulder at Starlee, who still had a tight grip on the wall and held, frozen in the same place and couldn't seem to move either up or down and stared at the giant monster that had come out of the pit. Jhanna growled in frustration and yelled at her: "Go!" Starlee snapped out of her trance and started to climb again, as quickly as she could. The monster saw that and tried to swipe at her again, but Mona slashed her long knife along the beast's long, skinny arms. Mona's knife left a long, deep cut on its arm, almost cutting the paw clean off. It screeched again and swiped another claw at Mona, knocking her off her feet and into the stone wall. Jhanna cried out her name and jumped in front of Mona, put her gun back in her belt and drew her sword. The monster stared down at her, roared and swiped two claws at her. She dodged one of them and slashed at the other one, cutting it clean off, causing the beast to screech again.

Starlee had finally managed to get high enough for me to grab her around the chest and lift her out of the hole and place her on the ground beside me. I kneeled down behind her and looked over the scratches over her back. Her purple suit, brown vest and black t-shirt were all torn and her blue skin showed a few thin marks with a little blood seeping through. But it wasn't that bad, and after I had covered it with the wraps I had around my wrists, I placed my hand on her shoulder and turned her around to face me.

"Are you okay, Star?" She nodded and bit her lip, clearly a bit shaken. She wrapped her arms around her chest and pressed her legs against it.

"Yeah. I think so." She took a shaky breath, but the screaming and screeching and slashing down there caught my attention before she could say anything and I looked down again. Jhanna was doing her best to fend off the beast, and turned to look at Mona, who was starting to get back up on her feet.

"Mona, go! Climb, get out of here! I'll hold it off, just go!" Mona still looked a bit dazed, but when Jhanna said she would hold off the monster on her own, she seemed to snap out of it a bit and picked up the knife she had dropped on the ground. She pushed her bangs out of her face and looked between Jhanna and the monster.

"No way! I can't just leave you with that thing!" Jhanna growled, swung her sword at the beast's long tongue which it now had started to use as a weapon, sliced off the tip of it and a fountain of green blood started to spray from its mouth. It howled in pain and Jhanna used it as a distraction and turned back to Mona.

"Just go already!" Mona bit her lip, looked up at the hole and then started to climb. And though she was a bit faster than Starlee had been, she was still slow enough to draw the attention of the monster. Jhanna noticed this, tried to slash another paw off its arms, but she was knocked into a wall and lost consciousness, leaving Mona as an open target. Mona turned in Jhanna's direction when she heard her hit the wall and stopped climbing.

"Jhanna!" But not one second had passed after she had let the scream leave her lips when she realized the monster now didn't have anyone else to focus on and when she turned to look over her shoulder, she saw the monster now gazing at her with hungry eyes and drooling jaws. She gulped and gripped the wall tighter.

Both Starlee and I had our eyes glued to the battle down in the hole, and I knew that neither Jhanna nor Mona would stand a chance against the beast. Jhanna couldn't fight back in her state and Mona couldn't defend herself and hold onto the wall at the same time. "They'll never beat that thing alone," I muttered to myself and then turned back to Starlee. "Stay here. Wait for Traximus and the Professor to find you." Without another word I grabbed my staff and jumped down through the hole. I heard Starlee cry out my name, but I put my focus on the beast, freed the blade in my staff and cut right through the tongue before it could hit Mona, spraying even more green blood from its mouth. And while the monster reeled back, howling like a wolf, I landed on the stone ledge- having to hold back a yell of my own as a jolt of pain shot through my injured my leg- and turned to Mona, who stared at me, stunned into silence.

"Get out of here, hurry! I'll get Jhanna!" She stared at me for a second longer, then nodded and started to climb again. I turned to the monstrous creature, twirled my staff between my fingers and got myself ready to fight this beast off. It let out an enraged roar at me and swiped its claws at me. I jumped back, ignored the pain in my leg, blocked the first attack and whacked its other claw away with my staff. The monster leered down at me and raised its claws and bared its sharp teeth, about to strike again, and before I could do anything to fight back, a laser beam hit it right between in the eyes, leaving a blast mark and a little blood. I turned back to the hole and saw Starlee with a gun, aiming it at the monster with a surprisingly experienced hand. And while the monster roared in pain, she fired another shot at its stump of a paw. Another pained screech, and its focus turned to its arm where even more blood fountained out.

While its focus was elsewhere, I pulled a few shuriken from one of my pockets and threw them at its eyes. And, of course, they hit their marks, since I never missed a target with anything, from a bow and arrow or simple throwing knives. The shurikens hit the eyes, which once again caused the monster to howl in pain.

I heard Jhanna groan and sit up again. She rubbed her head, but her focus was quickly directed to the monster and its roaring and moan. I turned to her, ran over and pushed her towards the wall. "Jhanna, quick, climb!" That was all I managed to say before the monster attacked again and I had to block its claws. Jhanna just sat there and looked at me with glazed-over eyes and stayed on the ground. I noticed this and yelled at her frantically.

"Jhanna, _go_!" Unfortunately the monster managed to land a hit, knocking me to the ground. I heard Jhanna, Starlee and Mona cry out my name in fear, but I didn't have time to react before the monster wrapped what was left of its tongue around my chest and lifted me up to its face. I almost dropped my staff in shock, but tightened my grip on it before I could and just as it was about to throw me into its mouth, I lifted to staff again and stabbed it straight in the biggest eye I could find in its ugly face, and then jabbed the blade into its neck. It dropped me, forcing me to grab onto its injured arm before I could fall down to the bottom of the abyss, and clutched at its face and neck, roaring in agony. I climbed up on its arm, running until I reached the bloody stump, and jumped back to the ledge where Jhanna was still sitting.

"We gotta go!" I grabbed her and threw her onto my back, forcing her to wrap her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist. She tried to talk, but her voice sounded more and more slurred the more she tried to speak.

"B-bu', wha' about th' B-black Hole G-gen'rator?" I grunted in pain as my leg protested after having been doing so much physically exerting work and blew one of Jhanna's ponytails out of my face as I started to climb up again.

"We'll get it when the others get here! Right now we have the get out of here alive!" I climbed as quickly as I could and tried my best to ignore the pain in my leg and gratefully grabbed Starlee and Mona's hands, letting them pull us up and out of the hole. Mona dragged Jhanna off my back and helped her lean back against the tree, looking over her injuries, especially around her head. She checked her eyes and turned to me.

"Hm, looks like a minor concussion," she informed me before turning back to her patient. "You were lucky it didn't give you any brain damage or break your neck." Jhanna couldn't answer, suddenly looking a lot drowsier, and almost looked like she was about to fall asleep. Starlee crawled over to her sister and gently placed her hand against her cheek and forehead, checking for a fever.

"Will she be okay?" Mona nodded and brushed some of Jhanna's hair out of her face.

"Yeah, she'll be fine. A drop of the fire lily potion and she'll be right as rain in no time." I let out a breath of relief, but then Mona came over to me and started to look over my leg before she glared up at me and slapped me across the face. Either it wasn't a very strong slap or the pain in my leg was so strong that my brain didn't acknowledge the new pain in my face, but either way it was still a bit of a shock. But Mona wasn't finished.

"What were you _thinking_ , jumping into the fight like that? You already have an injured leg! Did you _want_ it to break again?" I placed my hand over my cheek and looked at Mona with half-closed eyes and what I hoped was a very done expression on my face.

"Well, that's _one_ way to thank someone for saving your life." Mona's face wavered between anger and fear, and, to my alarm, a few tears managed to slip from her eyes. She took several deep breaths and didn't seem to know if she wanted to yell at me, hit me again or if she just wanted to cry.

"W-well, no one asked you to-! I-I mean, you didn't have to-! You would've-!" Starlee placed her hand on Mona's shoulder and shook her gently to snap her out of her emotions.

"Calm down, Mona. He just risked his life to save both you and Jhanna, so cut him some slack, okay?" Mona stared into Starlee's eyes, then into mine and went back and forth between us for bit before she pushed her hands over her face and hair and took a deep breath. She didn't say anything for a bit, let her hands rest in her lap and then looked back at me and, lo and behold, gave a genuine and grateful smile.

"Thank you, Donnie, for saving us." Her smile widened slightly and she shrugged lightly. "Even if it was incredibly stupid to do so." I chuckled and punched her arm gently.

"Hey, what can I say? I look out for my friends, even if I end up doing something incredibly stupid." She laughed and looked away from me. Starlee smiled too and nudged an elbow into my side.

"Hey, what about me? Didn't you see how I shot that thing right between the eyes? I totally got him!" Mona laughed and threw an arm around her.

"Yeah, that was pretty cool, Starlee." I nodded and ruffled her hair, making her squirm and try to get away from me, laughing lightly.

"I have to admit, Starlee, I didn't think you had it in you to actually hurt anyone. It was quite a surprise; I'm impressed." She looked at me with a wry expression on her face and folded her arms over her chest. But before she could say anything, we heard loud footsteps coming closer to us. We all looked behind us as saw Traximus and the Professor coming running up.

"Are you alright?" The Professor kneeled down beside us and placed one hand on Starlee's shoulder and the other on mine. Mona nodded and gestured at Jhanna, who was half-asleep. Starlee crawled over to her and took one of her hands in her own.

"Jhanna has a minor concussion, and I'm pretty sure Donnie's leg is worse now than it was before, but otherwise we're okay." The Professor immediately turned to me, but I held up my hands and pointed down to the hole beside us.

"There's no time for that! We have to get that Black Hole Generator piece up and get back to the ship- whoa!" I barely had time to finish the sentence before I whipped out my staff and blocked a throwing knife aimed for my face. Everybody jumped in surprise and turned to the direction it came from. And once again, I felt my blood freeze in my veins. 'Before us was familiar figure with a sword in her hand.

"Moriah."

She came walking up to us, stopping a few feet away and resting a hand on her hip. "Well, I was hoping for a rematch, but it looks like I can get that _and_ grab what I want at the same time. Lucky me." She turned to Starlee and Jhanna, froze a little when she saw that Jhanna was barely conscious, and then turned solely to Starlee. "Starlee, hurry, grab Jhanna and come over here! And Professor Honeycutt, surrender now and I won't hurt your precious little friends." Starlee got to her feet and placed herself between Jhanna and Moriah, spreading her arms out.

"We're not gonna come with you, Moriah! We wanna help Donnie to save Earth!" Moriah rolled her eyes and placed her other hand on her other hip.

"'Save Earth?' Please, Starlee. You're too young and inexperienced to be off D'hoonib. And besides, what can saving Earth possibly do for D'hoonib or the Federation? Now, come on, we're going home!" Starlee's eyes narrowed dangerously and she shook her head at her sister.

"No, I won't! I'm not going to let you drag me back to that life- I was helping Dad kill innocent people! I _refuse_ to go back to that!" Moriah's eyes narrowed and she took two steps forward.

"Starlee, don't defy me. I am your older sister; I know better than you. Now come over here- Father expects us to be home-" Starlee raised her voice louder than I had ever heard and screamed at Moriah at the top of her lungs.

"I'm _not_ coming with you, Moriah! Go away, take your sword and attitude and just go, leave us alone!" Moriah was taken aback by Starlee's loud voice and hurtful words, but before she could come up with a good response, Jhanna looked up from her half-slumber and over at Moriah with her eyes glazed over and slurred speech, which resulted in her not being able to bring the emotion she most likely wanted to her statement. She managed to look straight at Moriah and tried her best to sound firm and strong.

"You're not doing this for Dad, you're doing this for yourself. All you've ever done, you've done for yourself. You don't care about anyone or anything- you just want to look good in Dad's eyes, and that's all it's ever been about." Once she finished, her eyes rolled into her skull and she fell unconscious. Starlee immediately cried out and fell to her side, placing a hand on her cheek. Moriah stared at her, then her face scrunched up in anger and she walked up to us menacingly.

"That's it. You two are coming with me!" Starlee wrapped her arms tightly around Jhanna's shoulders to protect her better, but I quickly got up with my staff, still with the blade out, and swung it at Moriah's face, throwing her off and forcing her to raise her sword and block my attack. I turned to look over my shoulder.

"You guys get the piece and get back to the ship! I'll distract Moriah!" I heard Mona call out my name, but I didn't listen and instead swung my staff at Moriah's legs, forcing her to block my attack again. My interference started to anger her further and she swung her sword at my face. I dodged easily and threw my arm up, making the sword's edge hit the armour on my spacesuit, and I kicked at her knee and knocked her off her feet.

She growled from the ground, flew up and grabbed me by the shoulders, trying to headbutt me, but when she took a step backwards she accidentally stepped over the edge with a yelp and fell from the mountain, pulling me down with her.

* * *

"Donnie!"

Starlee got to her feet and was about to sprint over to the edge, but Mona grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back again. She shook her head at her. "No, Starlee, I'll go and see that Donnie's alright. You stay here with Traximus and the Professor and get the Black Hole Generator!" Mona got up and ran over the edge. Traximus looked down through the hole and saw the piece of machinery on the ground. The monster was lying on the edge, dead from blood loss, but was still twitching slightly. It obviously wasn't a threat anymore, so Traximus jumped down into the hole and landed close the its body. He grabbed the piece, heaved it over his shoulder with ease and was just about to climb up again when a loud thud was heard from the boulder that covered the entrance the girls most likely had gone through, and sooner after was another thud. Then a loud voice was heard from the other side of the wall.

"They're in here! Come on, men, let's blow this up! We have to grab the piece and bring it back to the Prime Leader!" Traximus' eyes immediately widened and he started to climb again. But not even a second later, a loud explosion was heard and three other Triceratons came running through the new hole in the wall. Zog was in the lead and looked around the giant cave frantically before he spotted Traximus, halfway up the wall with a piece of the Black Hole Generator over his shoulder. His eyes narrowed with rage and he pointed his gun at Traximus.

"There, they're getting away with the Heart of Darkness! Stop that traitorous backstabber!" He was yelling so frantically that his voice broke and he immediately started to fire his gun. but he only managed to hit the Black Hole Generator or the wall around Traximus. By the time the others had started to fire, Traximus had managed to climb out of the hole again. He groaned and heaved the piece further up on his shoulder and grabbed Starlee and I by the arm.

"We must hurry; they will be right behind us in seconds!" I nodded and waved over at Mona Lisa, who came running from the edge of the mountain. She looked at us, her eyes huge and full of fear and worry.

"I can't see him! They're both gone!" Starlee's eyes widened and she gripped Traximus' arm in worry, but he didn't think twice about what to do next. He turned to her and Starlee.

"You two go and look for him, The Professor and I will take Jhanna and the piece back to the ship. Now, let's go!" I nodded and threw Jhanna over my shoulder.

"Very well, let's hurry." And with that we split up into groups, running off in opposite directions. Starlee and Mona rushed to the edge off of which Donatello and Moriah had fallen, and Traximus and I ran back in the direction we'd come from. Behind us, Zog came up after us and immediately opened fire. Traximus shoved me in front of him so Jhanna and I wouldn't risk getting shot, hefted a gun of his own and fired right back at Zog and his men. He managed to shoot the tree and it landed on Zog when it fell over. He cried out in pain, growled and fired at Traximus' head, but hit the piece again.

"After them, you idiots! Kill them if you have to, but bring that device back to the Prime Leader! Take that device from them!" Zog and his men gave chase, firing at us mercilessly, and I had to dodge and hide most of my body behind Traximus so Jhanna wouldn't get shot. She groaned lightly, but otherwise showed no signs of waking. I groaned a little and heaved her up over my shoulder again when she started to slip off.

Traximus suddenly grabbed me by the arm and lifted me up before he leapt off the mountain and landed down on the ground again. I cried out in surprise and almost dropped Jhanna completely when we hit the ground, but Traximus grabbed her when she slipped off my shoulder and slung her over his own shoulder.

"We must try to shake them off! Come, we'll run through the woods and take another way back to the ship! Perhaps that will buy us some time- hurry!" He didn't wait for a response, just grabbed me by the arm and ran into the thick forest, and I tried my best keep up with him and not run into a tree or trip over a bush.

"I hope the girls and Donatello are alright," I muttered and looked off into the dark forest as lasers flew around us and set fire to bushes and dead leaves. Traximus grunted in response and dodged another bullet that set fire to more of the sickly foliage. Behind us we heard Zog yell orders to his soldiers to grab us and the piece, so Traximus tightened his grip on me, Jhanna and the Black Hole Generator and ran faster, almost dragging me behind him.

"Kill them! Kill them and take the Heart of Darkness from them! Orders from the Prime Leader!"

* * *

Moriah and I tumbled down the mountainside together and lost our grips on each other, falling in different directions. I landed on the hard ground and held back an exclamation of absolute pain, and Moriah landed in a bush. She groaned a little, then flew back to her feet and wielded her sword. I saw her coming towards me with a murderous gleam in her eyes, so I rolled out of the way just as she was about to slash my face. My helmet had fallen off during our descent and the air around me started to cloud my brain. The scent was enough to make my thoughts become unfocused, and I was already tired and had quite a few bruises and wounds on my body from the two earlier fights today. I started to feel the energy drain from my body. But still I grabbed my staff and got back up on my feet. She growled and pointed her sword at me.

"You... _you_ did this! You turned my sisters away from me! This is your fault!" She gripped the sword and swung it at my bad knee, but I placed my arm in the way and it once again hit my amour-clad forearm and I used my other arm to punch Moriah in the chest, making her stumble away from me. While she gripped at her chest, I grabbed the staff and got into a fighting stance.

"No, you pushed them away yourself. They came to me willingly after I showed them a little kindness." Despite my growing weakness, I managed a patronizing tone. "Maybe you should try it?"

She glared at me, but then saw how sloppy my stance was and how my eyes were unfocused. She could see how tired I was and smirked wickedly at me. "Getting tired, are we? Yeah, I can see that, seeing how you're injured and this air is not very healthy. Too bad for you, but don't worry. I'm sure the Wendigo will take good care of you in the life after this." But the words barely left her lips before a low roar was heard throughout the woods. Both of us froze in our steps and scanned our surroundings, but there was just the mountain behind us, so that left the thick, dark woods around us.

I gripped the staff tighter and tried to not shake in fear. "Wh-what was that?" Moriah gripped her sword tighter and looked in every direction, trying to find the source of the roar.

"Hopefully just an overactive imagination..." Imagination? Really? That was her best explanation? I was just about to question her logic, but then another low roar was heard, and something even scarier: footsteps. Loud footsteps that made their way towards us and for every step, the ground seemed to shake under our feet. When I looked in the direction the footsteps were coming from, I saw something familiar that made my blood freeze once again: a pair of glowing yellow eyes. Moriah saw them now too, and her arms fell to her sides as a soft gasp left her lips. The eyes came closer to us and eventually, we saw it.

A large beast made its way out of the trees, about ten feet tall, mostly skin and bones. No, literally, it was almost entirely skin and bones. Its shoulders and upper arms had no skin or muscle and were just bones. Its lower arms didn't have far to go before they looked like that too; only the elbows had a little fur left. Its ribcage was visible, showing its slowly beating heart. The head, face and part of its lower and upper body had ragged brown fur. It had the body structure of a full grown stag and large antlers stuck out of its head. It had cloven feet but its hands looked human, or at least something close to it, with long, skinny claw-like fingers that looked dangerously sharp. Its face also looked like a stag's, but it had humongous sharp teeth and the mouth was covered with dried blood, and it had some fresh blood dripping from its jaws. One had to wonder who or what its latest unlucky victim was. In fact, the whole body seemed to be covered with dried blood and dirt, and it reeked of moldy flesh and death itself. And right now, its yellow eyes were locked on us and it pointed at us with a long, crooked finger.

Moriah moved her mouth but no words came out and she backed away, slowly and carefully. "T-the... th-the... the Wendigo!" She cried and started to run away in terror. My survival instincts also kicked in and I started to sprint away from the Wendigo. I had no idea if this actually was the Wendigo or if it wasn't just another monster that lurked on this planet, but I didn't want to take any chances. The Wendigo started to follow us, but it just walked and didn't waste any energy running. But that, if anything, just made it scarier. Just imagine being followed by someone or something, and you are running for your life and the thing behind you just walks at a normal pace, but still manages to be just behind you. Like no matter how fast you can go, it can always catch you- you speed up and it might actually have to start running, and then you're a true goner. Really freaky if you ask me.

I tried to run as fast as I could, but my injured leg was not on my side and it hurt more and more for every step I took. And suddenly, my foot got caught in something and it felt like the bone jumped out of its joint and a sharp jolt of pain shot through my whole leg and I fell to the ground with a grunt. At first I was a bit dazed, but then, when I realized the beast was right behind me, I tried to scramble back on my feet, but realized my left foot was stuck in a root and when I tried to pull it free it just sent sharp jolts of pain through my leg. I cried out in agony and tried hold back tears of pain. Then I remembered the danger and looked up at the Wendigo that was getting closer and closer to me. I cried out in panic and tried to pull my leg free from the root and clenched my teeth and tried to ignore the pain, but no matter how hard I tried to pull myself free, I couldn't move. The Wendigo drew closer and closer, pointing its long, crooked claws at me. My fear turned into panic and I drew away from it as much I could. Then, something unexpected happened.

Moriah, who had been far ahead of me the whole time, stopped when she heard my scream and turned to look at me. She saw me, my predicament and how close the Wendigo was to me. She looked in the direction she was heading, back to me, and back and forth for a bit. Then she groaned and let her head fall backwards.

"Ugh, Blorg!" Then she over to me and raised the sword before cutting through the root that my foot was caught in, grabbed my arm, threw it over her shoulders and heaved me back up on my feet. "Come on, let's go!" I didn't get a chance to respond- although I'm not sure I would've been able to speak through my absolute shock, anyway- before she started running again and I had to do my best to keep up with her. The Wendigo roared in indignation after us and started to follow once more. Moriah gasped when she heard it and ran faster, and I had to scramble to keep up with her, which was a bit hard to do, but I did my best, pushing the agony to the back of my mind. My life was at stake here.

Moriah eventually saw something ahead of us, let go of me and stopped to look at me. "There are your friends! They'll have to help you from here, I'm going back to my ship!" She turned to ran off in another direction, then stopped and turned around again, pointing at me with an angry expression. "But don't think that this is over, scum!" Then she turned heel and disappeared into the woods, her red hair being the only that was visible for quite a bit. I looked after for a bit, just now being able to process what she had just done.

She had saved my life. Moriah, who minutes ago had been dead set on killing me, had turned back to save my life when the Wendigo was just about sinks its claws into me and turn me into a zombie. Why? Why had she done that, when she had no earthly reason to do so? But I didn't get much time to think about that, because suddenly Mona and Starlee came running through the thick vegetation and up to me, and Mona immediately started checking for injuries.

"Donnie! Are you okay? What happened? Where's Moriah?" I shook my head, grabbed her wrists and pulled them away from my body.

"No time for that, we have to go! The Wendigo is after me!" Starlee and Mona looked at me with wide eyes, then another roar was heard and they immediately grabbed one arm each and wrapped them over their shoulders and helped me hurry through the woods and back to the ship. I looked over at the girls and tried to catch my breath.

"W-where are Traximus and The Professor? Are they alright?" Mona looked at me and tried to shake her bangs out of her face.

"They went back to the ship with the piece. They took Jhanna with them, that's all I know. We were sent to look for you." I nodded and we kept running. And finally the woods started to clear up and I recognised the way back to the ship. Another good thing was that the Wendigo either seemed to have given up on following us, or seemed to have become much quieter because I couldn't hear the steps anymore. But the sight I saw wasn't too comforting.

* * *

We finally made our way to the ship after taking a big detour around the forest. We had even at one point ran into that insane man we had met when we first landed on the planet, who had practically begged us to take the piece off this planet. When he had seen that I had it over my shoulder, he had pressed a small leather bag in the Professor's hand and thanked us a million times before he ran off to find his friends and tell them the good news. But we hadn't thought much of it- we just thanked him for his gift and hurried along until we got to the ship.

We hurried inside the ship and The Professor ran into a room, came back with a blanket and put it on the floor and gestured at me to lie Jhanna down on the blanket so he that could look over her injuries. She groaned a little when she was placed on the floor, but didn't seem like she was going to wake up yet. The Professor placed a hand on her forehead and then turned to look at me and pointed to the floor.

"Put the fragment there, then go outside and wait for the kids while I start up the ship!" I nodded, put the piece of the Black Hole Generator on the floor and hurried outside to see if Mona Lisa and Starlee were coming with Donatello yet. They weren't, but Zog and his troops emerged from the treeline, guns at the ready, and pointed them at me. Zog held up a hand to signal 'hold your fire' and then tried to smile ingratiatingly at me.

"Now, now, Traximus. You are a Triceraton, just like us. Remember your roots, and remember that we are your comrades. You have a loyalty to your people, and your leader. Just hand over the Heart of Darkness and I'll tell the Prime Leader that you did it for your people, to reclaim your honor and position. What do you say?" I narrowed my eyes at them and gripped my axe tighter.

"There is no honor in reclaiming the pieces to a device simply to destroy another world. A world full of innocents. And I have a message for you and your honored Prime Leader: To watch the destruction of others safe and from afar, while doing nothing yourself, is the embodiment of cowardice." Zog watched me with wide eyes, then snarled angrily. He narrowed his eyes at me and bared his crooked teeth.

"Well, if that's your choice," He turned to the soldiers behind him. "Triceratons, attack!" They immediately started fire off their guns, and it was hard to dodge their bullets, but I refused to move, because if I did, they would be able to march right inside and grab the piece from us. And I was not about to let go of it now, when we were so close to leaving with it in our grasp. But it was hard to defend the ship from three Triceratons.

"Heads up, Traximus!"

* * *

The ship was under attack! Traximus was trying to defend the ship against Zog and two other Triceratons. He seemed to be having a hard time doing it. I removed my arms from Mona and Starlee's shoulders and grabbed my staff.

"I have to help him!" Both Mona and Starlee protested when I started to run towards the fight, but I didn't listen. I ran up behind Traximus, gathered as much strength in my legs as I could and jumped over his head. I cried out,

"Heads up, Traximus!" He looked up from the fight in time to dodge so he wouldn't get my feet on his face, and I threw my bo-staff and it hit Zog right in the eyes. It didn't really hurt him, but it made him drop his gun and he placed his hand over the spot I had hit with my staff. And while he was distracted, I grabbed the small gun I had in my belt, aimed and fired at his eyes. And this time, it did hurt him. He yelled in pain and rubbed his eyes. I landed in a crouch in between him and Traximus and quickly grabbed my staff from the ground. I looked over my shoulder at Traximus.

"Come on, let's handle these guys together!" Traximus didn't look pleased about me being in another fight, but he didn't say anything about it and just gripped his axe and got ready to fight. Zog rubbed his eyes over his arm and then looked down at me, blinking a bit to clear his eyes. Then, when he recognised me, a large smirk spread over his face and he leaned down to look me in the eyes.

"Well, well, well. Lookie what we got here, boys! The rebel terrapin on a mission. How cute! Nice scars you got there, kid! Makes you look like you got in a fight with something big!" He pointed to the three scars running across my face with a teasing smirk. "You won that fight, didn't you? I mean, how could you have done anything else, you little champ?" He then feigned realizing something. "Ooh, wait, no. You didn't. You got severely beaten up, if I remember correctly." He laughed slightly, and the Triceratons behind him started chuckling too. I took a deep breath and gripped the staff tighter.

"Don't listen to him, Donatello. Don't let him get to you," Traximus told me from behind me and I tried to take it, but my anger was starting boil up again. My blood got hotter and hotter and I'm pretty sure my face turned bright red too. Zog saw that, but must have thought that I was blushing and leaned down even further so his face was at the same level as mine.

"How does it feel, freak? To know that you have been marked by the Triceratons forever, and that you will never be as strong or as tough as a Tricerato-" I had finally had enough of his condescension and smacked my staff as hard as I could across his face, making him yelp in pain. I clenched my fist and punched him in the gut, and when he clutched at his abdomen, I gathered all my strength in my good leg and kicked him as hard as I could between the legs. He squealed, just as I had hoped that he would and grabbed at his unmentionables and groaned in pain. The others around me hissed in pain or sympathy. I kept a firm glare on Zog and grabbed him by the collar of his spacesuit.

"Now you listen here, Dino-creep! You can call me freak as much as you want, but don't ever look down on me just because you defeated me that one time! I may have been beaten to the ground back on Filione, I will be the first one to admit that! But I am not giving up until that Black Hole Generator is completely and utterly destroyed! And I am gonna stand here and let you insult me like that, you hear me? If you have something to say to me, say it. But you would be wise to think about what you say, unless you wish to regret it later. You can tell your dear leader about that, if you have the guts!" I shoved him away from me and he stumbled slightly, but he didn't seem to fazed by it. But I didn't care. I stood up straight, put my hands on my sides and looked him straight in the eyes.

"And for the record, I have a name: Hamato Donatello. You would be wise to use that name, and not call me freak. Keep that in mind." Zog glared at me and aimed his gun at me. But before he could fire, a loud roar was heard and everybody turned to see what it was. Mona Lisa and Starlee had run up to the ship, so it wasn't them trying to cause a distraction. But I knew what it was.

At the edge of the forest, a large being came through the woods and stared at us with almost dead eyes, and when it saw us, it licked its lips and started to head towards us. Zog's eyes widened and he started to fire at the beast crazily, his soldiers immediately following his example. Traximus grabbed me by the arm and pulled me close to his side and waved the girls to him.

"I believe that it is time to leave, while they are distracted." We nodded and hurried inside the ship. But before I walked inside, I turned around to see the Triceratons still firing away at the Wendigo. And before I could stop myself, I saluted towards the Wendigo and the Triceratons.

"Thank you and goodbye, Zerij! I hope I will never see you again!" Zog looked up from the fight, just in time to see me salute at him and the doors close before me. I heard him shout 'NO!' but that was all I heard before we lifted off the ground and started to fly away. I walked into the control room and saw Starlee seated at the control panel, flying the ship away from the planet. Mona was kneeling down beside Jhanna's head and looking her over while the Professor checked her vitals.

I approached them and sat down beside the Professor, gritting my teeth as another jolt of pain shot up my knee. "How is she?" Mona looked up just as she put a drop of fire lily potion in Jhanna's slightly opened mouth.

"She'll be fine. But she's probably gonna need to take it easy for a day or two after such a hit to the head." I looked down at Jhanna's face and saw the colour starting to return to her cheeks and her breathing becoming stronger. She eventually opened her eyes and sat up, rubbing her head in pain. She blinked a few times before she looked up at us.

"What... what hit me? Where am I?"

Mona placed a hand on her shoulder, making Jhanna snap her head in her direction. "You're on the ship. We're just leaving Zerij; we got away." Jhanna rubbed her head and pushed her hair up on, then let it fall down again.

"Got away? Got away from who? Moriah?" Mona shrugged and bit her lip.

"Well, Moriah, that monster down in the abyss, the Triceratons and even the Wendigo." Jhanna raised her eyebrows.

"The Wendigo? You actually saw the Wendigo? No way."

Starlee, who'd just put the ship on auto-pilot, came over to us and sat down beside Mona. "No, it's true! We saw it! It looked it wasn't even alive- like something that died, had been rotting for months and then resurrected again. It was really freaky." Jhanna looked at her sister, then rolled her eyes and lied back down again.

"If you say so, Star." She rested her hand on her forehead. "I'm too tired to argue about that right now." She looked over at me, smiled a wry smile and raised a brow. "You're an idiot, you know that, right? But, thank you. If you hadn't shown up when you did I would've been done for. So thanks," she mumbled, and it sounded like she really had to force herself so say 'thank you', but considering she, like Mona, rarely said these things genuinely, it meant much more when she finally did manage to say it. I shrugged with a smile and looked over at the hulking piece of machinery on the floor. I took a deep breath and finally took it all in.

"We did it. We got the first piece of the Black Hole Generator!" The others smiled and I raised my hand, making the others look at me. I noticed their questioning eyes and hurried to explain. "It's a high five. You smack your hands against mine."

"Oh." Starlee smacked her hand against mine, and the others followed her example. Jhanna pumped her fists in the air and had a big smile on her face.

"We are _awesome_!" Mona pumped a fist of her own and cried out, 'Yeah!' and Starlee hugged my arm as tightly as she could. She then stuck her hand into her pocket and dug out my tracking device.s tightly as she could. She then stuck her head into her pocket and dug out my tracking device.

"Oh, and by the way, this thing works like a charm. It really helped us find it, and it also absorbed the Black Matter like it was nothing. Really cool invention, Donnie." I took it and smiled at her.

"Well, thank you. I'm glad it worked," I replied and put the device around my neck. She smiled at me, then Mona gestured at her to turn her back to her, and she started to clean the scratches on her back and then wrapped them. While she did that, I turned to the Professor. "So, where are we going next?" The Professor had walked up to the control panels and computers and on the big windshield a picture of a big red plant showed up.

"I think we should head to Ypsagon next."

Jhanna sat with her legs in tailor position and looked over at him. "Wait a minute, I've heard about that planet. It's nothing but parties and fun every second of every minute of every hour of every day. What could possibly be on that planet that could be useful for us?" The Professor turned back to us and smiled his robot smile.

"I think a wise move is to consult an old friend of mine, known as Pluto Khan. He travels through the galaxy all the time, and is said to know the answer to every question you could ever ask. He knows the universe like the back of his hand. If anyone knows where the last two pieces of the Black Hole Generator are, it's him. And we're most likely to find him there." I nodded and slammed my hands together and rubbed them.

"Well, okay, then, let's go to Ypsagon. Professor, please set the course immediately- we don't want to lose any time at all."

The Professor gave me a thumbs up. "Right-o, Donatello." Mona came over to me and kneeled down beside me.

"And now, if the great hero and space captain doesn't mind, I am going to look over his leg. Considering how many fights you threw yourself into today, one can only imagine what damage you did to it." I rolled my eyes at her, but let her do it. But while she worked on that, I started to think back on what Zog had said to me, both on Filione and on Zerij. He had called me a freak, he had told me I was weak and worthless and a nothing. And he had beaten me into a pulp.

"Hmph, we'll see who's nothing but a worthless freak." I muttered to myself. I looked out the window and at space outside as we flew by. "Oh, you'll see, Zanramon. I am going to wipe the floor with you and your entire empire. And I'll show you just what kind of mutant Hamato Donatello truly is."

* * *

 **A/N: Well that concludes my first real action-centered chapter. And yes, I know I have a few others, but this is the one chapter I can remember writing where something always happened, with very little breathing room. And I for one am kinda pleased with it, though I don't know how good I am at writing fight scenes. Though, maybe I should have called this the Planet of Monsters and not Planet of Death, since there seems to be nothing but monsters roaming around. Though I hope the build up for the Wendigo was worth this payoff.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	52. Chapter 51, A Plan Taking Form

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: I've been to way more funerals the last two years than should be healthy for anyone, and I am sick and tired of seeing and hearing that my loved ones have died. Oh well, at least I have you guys to support me. And I can at least look forward to the fact that I'm graduating in a little more than two months! Then it's time to find a job! Yay...**

 **This chapter also is test to see how good I am at foreshadowing. Hopefully a lot better than I think I am.**

 **Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

* * *

Chapter 51, A Plan Taking Form

Zanramon was tapping his fingers against the armrest of his throne and stared down at me, as I knelt down before him. I could feel both his and Mozar's eyes bore into me and tried to tear me apart from the inside. I swallowed and kept my head down so he wouldn't see any weakness. After the kids, Traximus and that rusty bucket of a robot had left the planet, we had of course contacted Mozar and told him what had happened so that they could chase after them before they could get too far. But in the end, we had all been too late to stop them, and Mozar had immediately turned to me and dragged me off to the Prime Leader's chamber.

Zanramon sighed, leaned back in his throne and intertwined his fingers, looking down at me with unreadable eyes. "So, let me get this straight? You saw them with Heart of Darkness, caught up with them, got to their ship and knew they had the fragment inside, and you still let them get away?!" He had started talking very calmly, but the further he got, his voice got louder and more furious and he stood up from his throne and stared down at me. Fire was burning in his eyes and if he wasn't so short and had so little muscle, I would be afraid of him starting to beat me up. But still, he could tell Mozar to do it, so that was still a possibility. I slowly looked up and at my leader.

I bowed my head further and looked down at the floor. "I'm sorry, Prime Leader. We were attacked by the demon, and we didn't see that they were leaving. By the time we got to our ships it was too late. We couldn't possibly-" Zanramon slammed his clenched fist on the throne's armrest, which made me jump and look down again.

"There are _no_ excuses! You have failed your leader and your people and that is unforgivable! You are a disgrace to the entire Triceratons Empire." Mozar looked down at me and fingered on the axe in his hand.

"Shall I end his existence immediately, Prime Leader?" My eyes widened and my stomach clenched with fear. No, he couldn't. Not yet, I didn't want to die, there was still so much I could do to help my people. I growled and clenched my fists. Damn that reptile brat, this was all his fault. And his cockiness and bravado was grating to say the least. You would think that knocking him on his shell and scar him for life would knock him down a perch, but he still managed to survive Zerij and steal the glory from the Triceratons. If he had just been defeated in the execution battles, it would never have come to this!

Wait a minute... I back in that battle, Moriah from D'hoonib had come barging in to get Fugitoid. And if I remember correctly, they were still after that rust bucket. So, chances are that they're still after him and that those kids are going to protect him. Hm, maybe we could take advantage. I got up from the floor and looked up at the Prime Leader.

"Wait, please! Just, just hear me out Prime Leader, please." Zanramon looked down on me with a raised eyebrow and grasping his hands behind his back, then made a gesture at Mozar and he put away the axe. I took a deep breath and gripped my hands. "I know I have messed up, Prime Leader Zanramon. And I am sorry for that. And if you allow me to, I will be more than willing to take the piece back. And I already have a plan in motion, in order to do this." Zanramon looked down on me, then looked to the side, thinking it over. After a while, he sighed and looked down at me again.

"Very well. I will give you one more chance. Bring the fragment to me. _But_ , if you fail, you are finished. Do you understand?" I swallowed and bowed my head slightly.

"Yes, Prime Leader, I understand."

He nodded and gestured at the door. "You are free to go. Now get out of my sight!" I hurried back up on my feet and hurried out of his chambers. Once out of his room, I still hurried down the corridors and didn't stop until I was close to the computer rooms. Once I stopped, I had to take several deep breaths in order to calm my pounding heart.

Alright, I had my chance. Zanramon had given me one more chance to please him, I could not screw this up. But I had no idea where those kids were headed, or what their plan was, so how could I do this? I sighed. It went against all protocols and everything the Triceraton Empire stood for. But desperate times called for desperate measures. I walked up to the computers, made sure no one could see or hear me, before I started to search for the ship.

* * *

I stepped out of the shower and started to dry my hair with the closest towel. Well, this mission had been a complete waste of time. Not only had both Starlee and Jhanna refused to come with me and I hadn't even gotten a chance to snag the Fugitoid, but I had also backed out at the very last second when that disgusting reptile was just about to meet his doom, and, even worse, I had actually _saved his life_.. Why? _Why_ had I done that? He had taken my family from me, he was the one thing Father desired more than anything right now, and he was on the verge of starting a war with the most powerful species in the galaxy. He was the _enemy_!

I sighed, removing the towel, and started to dress. Why I had saved him, I really didn't know. My father had always taught me that mercy and helping others was a sign of weakness, and I had never had a problem following this doctrine, so why was this weakness suddenly tormenting me? I had been taught to be ruthless and a strong leader, so why hadn't I let that reptilian scum die? I sighed heavily and hung the towel to dry just as someone knocked on the door to my room. I put on the rest of my clothing and went to answer it.

"Didn't I tell you that I wished to be left _alone_ , soldier? You'd better have found something very important." One of my soldiers stood outside and stared at me, a little uncertain and a little scared.

"Uh, miss Moriah, I'm sorry to disturb you at this hour, but I thought you might like to know that we have found their ship. So far we haven't found where they are going, but we have set the course after them- at a safe distance, of course." I nodded and allowed myself to smile ever so slightly.

"Excellent. Would that be all?" The soldier bit his lip and looked down at his boots.

"Well, honestly, the reason I came is that someone has contacted us. And he says he wishes to speak with you." My eyes widened and my stomach clenched. Was it my father? Had he somehow heard of my failure and now wanted to tell me that I wasn't welcome home ever again? He had threatened to banish me if I failed him one more time... No, it couldn't be him. No soldier would ever not refer to him by title. So it had to be someone else. But who?

I pushed the fear aside and left my room, heading for the control center with the soldier falling into step behind me. I stopped in front of the door, taking another deep breath, and then entered. On the largest screen was the last thing I had expected to see: a Triceraton.

"Hello, Princess. It's been a while." I froze in my steps and stared at him for what felt like hours. Then I regained my composure and turned to look over my men.

"Leave us. I wish to speak to this Triceraton alone." No one dared protest and silently left the room. The Triceraton smirked at me as I came closer to the screen.

"Moriah of D'hoonib, it's been eons since I saw last you… that attack in the Tavern back on D'hoonib, right?" I narrowed my eyes, clenched my fists and barely hid my unending loathing.

"Yes, that would be it. The fight that cost me my little sister- and the Fugitoid! Thank you so much for that, reptile." I said the word 'reptile' with as much disdain and disgust as I could muster, yet he didn't even blink. His smirk just widened and he intertwined his fingers, resting his chin on them.

"Now, now, let's not dwell on the past, Princess. We all have to move on at some point, don't we? Besides, we all have our reasons for doing the things we do, don't we? I'm sure you have yours."

I folded my arms over my chest and dug my nails into my arms to keep myself from lashing out at the screen. "What do you want, freak?" Once again he didn't even react, just kept his eyes on me.

"I am Zog from the Triceraton Empire-." I rolled my eyes, rested one hand on my hip and tilted my head to the side.

"Yeah, I don't care."

Zog ignored me, but he did stop himself when I interrupted and glared at me for a small second; then he kept going. "And I am sure you are more than aware of our little feud with your people-" I rolled my eyes again.

"Yes, you come to our planet and tried to kill us, kidnapped my sister and have killed multitudes of our soldiers out of sheer pettiness. You have a _great_ leader, Zog." He stopped himself and glared at me again with more annoyance.

"And I am also well aware that our last attempts at capturing the Fugitoid have been proven failures." I folded my arms over my chest and tossed with my head, making my bangs fly off of my face. By now all pretense was gone, and I abandoned my attempts to speak and act formally.

"Yeah, understatement of the millennia. You captured him and then let my rowdy, unruly sister and her dirty reptile pet escape with him and let all your other prisoners get away as well. _And_ you let them escape with the part to the machinery that is crucial to your plan. Great job there, Zoggie, really great leader you have!" I flashed him a toothy, exaggerated grin and gave a big thumbs up.

Zog growled and slammed his fist on the keyboard, making me jump and my arms drop to my sides. "Alright, listen here, you little brat! I am trying to be diplomatic, and all I ask is for you to hear what I have to say. Are you going to listen, or are you going to act like a petulant child?" He glared down at me with fire burning in his eyes and it looked like he was about to snap at any time now. Not that it mattered, since he was on the other side of a screen, but the expression was still worth noting. It made his face look like a surra fruit that was about to burst.

I took a deep breath, brushing my fingers through my hair. Then I, nodded and gestured at him to keep talking. Zog drew a deep breath and went back to the same calm, collected Triceraton he had been a minute earlier.

"I have a proposition for you. It seems we both have common enemy: that little terrapin freak. And if you agree to help me, I assure you that I will get you exactly what you want." I clenched my jaw to keep it from hitting the floor, took a breath and then did a double take. A Triceraton was not only asking for help from the Federation, but also wanting a compromise that could give us both exactly what we wanted? It was too good to be true, too intelligent a tactic for such a moronic creature, and also, how convenient was it that he contacted me not two hours after my failed attempt to get my sisters and the Fugitoid. I bit down on my lips and took another breath through my nose, closed my eyes for a second and then looked up at him.

"Why would you want to help me? Better yet, why, by the asteroids of Klertzagon, would I help _you_? You have terrorized my people for decades, killed several good soldiers and are one of the biggest threats to the whole universe! Name one good reason why I should help you." His cocky smirk started to become more and more strained and after a minute of thought, he groaned and looked at me with a serious and, dare I say, desperate expression on his face.

"Alright, look, Prime Leader Zanramon wants to have the Black Hole Generator in his possession so he can have revenge on the Kraang, as you should know. And right now that little reptile freak has the first piece in his dirty paws. He also has your younger sisters and the Fugitoid onboard his ship as well. If you help me with my plan to steal it back and also get revenge on that snotty little brat, I will let you have your pathetic little sisters and that useless robot. What do you say?" I felt myself relax slightly and my shoulders fell a little.

"How do I know that this isn't some kind of trick? How do I know that the second you get what you want you won't just kill me and my sisters on the spot? You can't trust a Triceraton, everyone in the galaxy knows that!" His smirk came back again and he leaned in closer to the screen.

"Well, look at it this way, Princess: what choice do you have? Your soldiers aren't much to rely on, and I assume that you can't rely on Daddy for your help, can you? Without me, you won't stand a chance against Traximus- he makes up a big part of their muscle. And with both Professor Honeycutt and your prissy little sister on their team, you can't outsmart them. You need me for muscle, and I need you to help me with my plan."

"Why?" I rested my hands on my hips and cocked my head to the side. "Why can't you just do this on your own? You have a plan, and men at your disposal, so why do you need me to help you?"

He sneered. "Because Triceratons are not very stealthy, and you are. You will have to put part of the plan into action. And if you do, I will let you have what you want and not even scratch an inch of skin on your precious sisters. Or that robot. What do you say?" I bit my lip. Helping a Triceraton, collaborating with the enemy? It went against everything my father had taught me. If he found out he would never see me as his daughter again. But, perhaps, in times like these, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. And I couldn't fail Father one more time. I just couldn't.

I sighed. I had no choice, I had to do it. And the first thing to do was the get rid of any witnesses. I couldn't have anyone around me now, when I was close to committing treason. I leaned forward and pressed on a button and talked into the ship's comm link.

"All Federation soldiers aboard this ship are to return to D'hoonib. You are needed by General Blanque. I will carry on this mission alone." I removed my finger from the button and looked up at Zog again. "Alright, so what's your plan?"

Zog smirked at me, intertwined his fingers again and leaned in closer to the screen. "Alright, listen up."

* * *

Well, in many respects this mission had been nothing short of a success. The first Black Hole Generator piece was ours, we had gotten away from all the monsters and the Wendigo that crawled on the planet, and we had managed to get away from the Planet of Death with our lives. Donnie had managed to hold Moriah away from us long enough for all of us to get away with the piece. And both he and I had handled the cave monster better than I would have thought we'd be able to. Traximus carried Jhanna and the piece all the way back to the ship, and Mona Lisa and the Professor had helped her with her concussion, so she was feeling much better now after a few hours of rest. We also had a plan and were on our way to find out where the next piece was. Everything was fine right now. So why did I feel so bad?

Mona had looked over the wounds on my back and drew the conclusion that it was probably best to drip some of her potion on them just to be safe from the dangerous infections. And, considering what planet we had been on and all the monsters that were down there, on top of all the talk of death and pain and suffering, it was hard to blame her. After she had finished, she'd sent me to take a shower, which had left me alone with my thoughts as the Professor looked over Jhanna and Mona looked over Donnie's leg, with Traximus leaving with the piece to the Black Hole Generator to find a good place for it. Now that all the excitement had drained away, I was starting to think back to what had happened back down in the caves on Zerij.

When we had been down in the tunnels, and Jhanna had been her usual annoying, know-it-all older sister self, I had decided I had had enough and told her off. After almost thirteen years of her looking down on me and thinking I was just a stupid, naive kid, it felt really good to finally give her a piece of my mind. And Mona had agreed with me and said I had done great. So why did I feel so bad right now?

I was currently sitting on the stairs that led to the shower room, trying to sort through my thoughts. After Mona had sent me to take a shower, I had taken my spacesuit off so we could fix the scratches later, and my ripped clothing was thrown on the floor in front of me. Right now I was now sitting with just a bathrobe on and my hair down from its usual ponytail. Mona had gone to get lunch with Traximus, Donnie and the Professor had gone to look over the Black Hole Generator and see if there was any more Black Matter inside it, and Jhanna was lying down in her room and had been since she'd been told she needed rest for a few hours, just to be safe. The room was empty, which felt a little off. There was usually somebody in the same room as me, so it felt weird to be alone. And being alone just made my thoughts get louder and louder in my head.

 _"Okay, you listen up, Jhanna. I don't know what your problem is, and frankly I don't really care. But I decided to come along on this mission because I wanted to make sure the Triceratons stop terrorising the galaxy and won't blow up our friend's home!"_

 _"This mission is bigger than both of us. Billions of lives are at stake here, and guess what? You don't know as much as you think you do, and you don't know best just because of how you grew up! So I suggest that you zip it, 'cause no one here is interested in listening to your holier-than-thou attitude!"_

 _"I'm saying that I'm not gonna put up with your crud anymore, Jhanna, and no else on our team should be forced to, so why don't you just take your attitude and stuff it!"_

I groaned and buried my face in my knees. How was it that it could feel so good to say something and yet I could still feel like a total tool for saying it? That shouldn't be possible, right? I was so deep in my thoughts that my brain didn't acknowledge that the door behind me opened and closed.

"You know it's bad when the endless optimism runs out, eh, Star?" I looked up from my knees and saw Donnie walk up behind me with a cup in his hand and a small smile on his face. He had changed into his usual gear and he still had that metallic amulet tracker-thingy around his neck. I sighed and turned away from him, placing my head in my hands.

Donnie jumped over the railing, winced as he landed on his bad knee, and sat down on the steps beside me, placing the cup on the floor beside him. "So, what's up with you? I thought you'd be a little more excited over our first victory." I glanced over at him and brushed my fingers through my bangs with the one hand and groaned.

"I don't know, Donnie. I really don't know."

Donnie gently nudged my shoulder with his own and sent me a soft smile. "Yeah you do. You know what you're feeling, you just don't know why. Am I right?" I glanced over at Donnie and saw him smile comfortingly at me. I sighed and wrapped my arms around my knees.

"Yeah, I guess." We sat in silence for a few minutes, then he glanced over at me again.

"Mona told me what happened down in the tunnels. Between you and Jhanna, I mean. You know, it was a really cool thing you did down there." I sighed for the millionth time today and rested my forehead on my knees.

"I don't know, Donnie." I looked up at him again and tilted my head slightly to the side. "I mean, I meant every word I said, but I still don't feel good about it."

Donnie raised an eyebrow at me. "What do you mean?"

I placed my feet back down on the floor and moved so I could look him in the eyes. "I saw how she looked at me. She looked like I had stabbed her in the back. She looked so hurt." Donnie shrugged sheepishly and rested his elbows on his knees, his expression now one of understanding.

"Yeah, that tends to happen when people get told off. It's usually things they don't want to hear." He chuckled a little. "My brother, Raph- it's almost impossible to give him any criticism; he'll just take it the wrong way and try to beat you up for it. No matter how you say it." I laughed a little and his smile widened a fraction. Then I frowned and bit my lip lightly.

"But I don't want her to be mad at me. I want to on the same level as her, to be her equal. It's all I've ever wanted. But it feels like we're light years away from understanding each other. I don't know what to do." Donnie pressed his lips together and leaned back against the step behind us.

"Yeah, it does seem like you don't really know each other as well as you might think you do. But the way I see it, you two need to work things out or the whole team might be affected by your fighting." I sighed and looked away. I could feel his eyes on me, and in the corner of my eye I saw that he felt bad for me. He then picked up the cup and gently shoved me to gain my attention.

"You know, when I was a kid, whenever I felt sad, my brother would make me some of this. And it usually made me feel a lot better. Here, try some." I looked up at him, then at the cup, smiled gratefully at him and accepted it. The liquid inside was light brown and was still warm, despite it having been placed aside for a few minutes. I brought it up to my lips and sipped on it and was met with a sweet taste and the warmth spread through my whole body. I couldn't help but smile and I immediately started to feel a little better.

"Wow, this is really good! What is it?" Donnie also started to smile when he saw my reaction and wrapped his arms around his knees.

"Hot chocolate. It's a bit of a treat on Earth. And it makes me feel a lot better when I get sad." I smiled at him and drank some more of it.

"It's so good!" He laughed at me and shook his head a little. But I ignored it and kept drinking. It was so good that I almost started to forget about why I had been upset in the first place. But I started to think of it again and looked back at him.

"So, what do you think I should do about Jhanna?" Donnie moved a little closer to me and placed an arm around my shoulders, gently hugging me.

"Well, I can't really tell you what to do, but if it were MY sister, I would try to talk to her and sort things out and try understand her side of the story. You know, to try and solve any problems between us. That's what I would do. I mean, the problems you two have won't go away because you won't talk about them right?" I bit my lip and started to think over what he said.

"You know what? You're right!" I put the cup aside and threw my arms around his neck, throwing him off and almost knocking him to the ground. "Thanks, Donnie!" He chuckled and patted me on the back.

"Anytime, Star." I pulled away and he patted me on the leg before he stood up again. "Well, I'm gonna go and take a shower. You should get dressed. Or at least find some other clothes until we can fix your current ones." I nodded and he started to walk up the steps, then paused, reached down and ruffled my hair as he passed me. I cried out in and tried to be angry but couldn't help but laugh. I heard him chuckle and then he walked into the shower room, the doors shutting behind him.

I smiled to myself and brushed through my hair with my fingers before I looked down at my clothes on the floor. I picked up my t-shirt and the scratches on the back. That could easily be fixed. Mona, along with being good with injuries, was good with the needle, so she could probably fix them. But suddenly my Federation uniform didn't look as nice to wear anymore. After hearing all that the Salamandarians, Jhanna and others had said about the Federation, and after learning that they were bad guys, I didn't want to be a part of the Federation anymore. If it was true what they said, that my father was a murderer, then I did not want to wear his symbol on my clothes. I wanted to help my friend and his planet, and leave behind anything that was associated with killing.

I bit my lip and started thinking. Jhanna and I had dug through every room on this ship and found a whole bunch of clothes for her, since she, on top of her clothes being almost entirely destroyed, wanted nothing to do with the Federation anymore. Not that it mattered, since she always wore her spacesuit over those clothes, but still. So it shouldn't be too big a stretch to assume that some of the clothes on this should might fit me too.

I looked down at the uniform on the floor and nodded, making up my mind. I grabbed the clothes in front of me and ran out of the room. It was time to burn these rags and never look back on the Federation ever again.

I don't know who had owned this ship back on D'hoonib, or before the Federation got its paws on it, but it was loaded with all kinds of stuff. Not to mention that the bedrooms, the showers and everything were very luxurious. It obviously wasn't built for battle, but it still had everything we could possibly need, from weapons to food to clothing. Which really helped in cases like these.

Jhanna hadn't been too picky about her clothes when we looked through these rooms. She had picked out a pair of casual and soft pants, one or two t-shirts and something to sleep in. Which was about all that she would need when onboard here, really. But for me, it was a little hard to find good clothes. Mostly because almost everything was either too big or for guys. But eventually I managed to find a shirt, a pair of pants and some shoes I could use for now, and started to change into them. And it felt good to finally dress in something clean after a week of wearing the same things for days.

"Finally. Now that that's settled, maybe I can go grab something to eat-" I was about to leave when something caught my eye in one of the opened drawers. I kneeled down in front of them again and took a closer look. It looked like something with wheels, so I took them out to get a better look. And saw that they were roller skates that you could strap over your regular shoes.

I felt my smile widen and I looked down at my boots, an idea forming in my head.

* * *

After I finished my shower I had gone to get some lunch, where I found Jhanna out of her room. She had taken off her spacesuit and was dressed in more casual clothes, which she didn't wear that often; a pair of loose, black yoga pants and a dark blue tank top. She also had a blanket over her legs. She was sitting on one of the couches in the dining room, sipping on a cup of tea Mona had given her for the pains in her head and seeming to be in deep thought- something _else_ that didn't happen very often. Both Mona and the Professor had commanded her to sit down and take it easy, so I guess that didn't leave her much to do. Jhanna was so athletic and full of energy that she always used to train or at least move around. So to see her sit and take it easy was something very new.

She looked up when she heard me enter the room and waved at me. "Hey, D. What's up?" I shrugged and sat down at the Food Replicator.

"Eh, nothing much." The plug came out and placed itself on my forehead. Seconds later my pizza, small salad and Coke came out of the hatch. I took out Mona's bottle with fire lily potion from my belt and let a drop fall into the glass. I picked the tray up and started to walk over to the couch so I could keep Jhanna company. "I checked the coordinates, and we should reach Ypsagon by- Whoa!" I dodged as something went flying over my head and I had to grab my glass of Coke so it wouldn't fall over. When I looked up again I saw it was Starlee who had jumped over me, and she was moving _fast_. She was going so fast that she couldn't possibly be running. She looked over her shoulder at me, turned to the left and went by one of the couches and came back to me, stopping three feet away.

I looked up at her and saw she was suddenly about a foot taller and dressed in new clothes. In fact, she looked quite a bit different than she had earlier. She had let her hair down from her usual ponytail and had tied it into two pigtails and wrapped them with with two laces, and had a purple and dark pink hairband to keep her bangs in check. She had replaced her black and brown clothing with a pair of dark purple pants, a tied up purple blouse and a dark magenta t-shirt under it. She looked like a real, little girl which really fit her colorful and optimistic personality a lot better than her old uniform had. She looked more like her own person now. In fact, something about her reminded me of Mikey in one of his more childish moments. Of course, most notable were her purple boots, which she had put some kind of strap-on roller skates on.

She smiled widely at me and her eyes were gleaming with excitement and happiness. "Check it out! I found these when I was looking around for new clothes. Aren't they cool?" I looked at them,, up at her and then got back up on my feet.

"Yeah, they're neat. But next time you might wanna give a bit of a heads up before you jump over someone's head like that." She laughed and shrugged lightly.

"I could, but where's the fun in that?" She skated over to the Food Replicator and plopped down on the seat, watching as the plug came out and placed itself on her forehead. I rolled my eyes with a fond smile and went over the couch and sat down. Jhanna looked over at her sister with half-closed eyes and leaned back.

"Just as long as you don't get anyone killed, Sis." If Starlee heard what Jhanna said, she didn't indicate it, and just grabbed her own lunch and skated over to us. She didn't slow down, just threw herself on the couch while in motion and slid across the couch, lightly slamming into me. She looked up, smiled apologetically and shifted to her left.

"Well, either way these things are awesome! I never wanna take them off!" I chuckled and took a bite out of my pizza.

"Well, as long you don't hurt yourself or someone else, I won't stop you." Her smile widened and she started to eat her own food. She looked over at Jhanna, who was just drinking her tea (while clearly showing that she didn't enjoy it) and put her spoon down.

"Aren't you gonna eat, Jhanna?" Jhanna groaned and put the tea on the floor.

"No. Mona has forbidden me from eating for a few hours, since I had to drink her fire lily potion, and it might cause me to throw up if I eat too early." She groaned again and leaned back against the pillow, placing her arm over her eyes in an overdramatic fashion. "And it's driving me crazy! I'm so hungry." Starlee looked at her sympathetically and I nibbled on a piece of cucumber.

"Did she say how long you had to wait?" Jhanna removed her arm from one eye so she could look at me, then rolled her eyes and placed it back over.

"Yeah, five hours. And it's been almost three. Still two hours to go." I winced sympathetically at her and sipped my coke. Starlee downed some more of her soup and then looked over at my food. She grabbed a piece of pizza from my plate faster than I could quite process it, and I looked down at my plate in surprise and watched her steal my pizza. She looked up and smiled.

"I see you eat this stuff all the time and I wanna know how it tastes." She said simply and took a bite out of it. Her smile immediately widened and she closed her eyes in enjoyment. "Mm, this is great! It seems Earth has great food; everything I've tasted is fantastic!"

She quickly finished the piece and I couldn't help but laugh. "I know, right? This was the first food outside of worms and algae my brothers and I tasted, and we eat it everyday." She grinned at me as she chewed, and had barely swallowed before she started talking again.

"Well, I can understand why. It's so-" Jhanna narrowed her eyes at us and groaned again, louder and even more over-dramatically so she would gain our attention. Starlee looked over at Jhanna and immediately realized her error and slammed her mouth shut. Jhanna glanced over at me again.

"You said something about Ypsagon, Donnie?"

I swallowed the last piece of my pizza and nodded. "Yeah, I checked how long it will take to get to Ypsagon, and we should get there by the end of the week. Seven days at most." Starlee sipped more of her soup and smiled widely at me.

"That's great! Wow, Donnie, you're really getting the hang of this ship's technology quick." I looked away from her and felt my cheeks get a little warmer. I shrugged and smiled awkwardly.

"Well, I've always been good with technology. And I am a quick learner." Jhanna rolled her eyes and sat up straight.

"Yeah, well I just hope that this trip to Ypsagon will be worth it and not just a big waste of time." Starlee looked over at her and put the bowl of soup aside.

"Aw, come on, the Professor says he has a friend who knows where the piece is. As long as he find him, we'll be fine." Jhanna shook her head and brushed her fingers through her bangs.

"No, he said he _might_ know where it is. We don't know for sure that he does." I shrugged and tried to smile.

"Well, hopefully he knows at least something that could be useful. If not, our next step should be to track and follow the Triceratons. They probably know where it is if this Pluto Khan doesn't." Starlee nodded and pulled her feet up on the couch so she sat crosslegged.

"Besides, we'll be visiting a planet that is nothing but nice people, parties and fun. If nothing else, we might just be able to have a little fun in between all this fighting and drama." She smiled and brushed some hair out of her eyes. I nodded and clutched my amulet-tracker that still hung around my neck.

"You're right, Star. We should focus on the positive. And I've got a feeling that this Pluto Khan knows where it is. I just feel it. And besides, if he doesn't know, we can just leave right afterwards. Nothing lost except time." Starlee and Jhanna looked at each other, back at me and nodded. I smiled and leaned back against the couch.

But as I removed my hand from the amulet around my neck, I felt a sort of tingle in my hand and chest, just where it rested around my neck. And for a second, I could swear it started to blink again and I felt a vibration go through my body and my heart started to beat a little faster. But it only lasted for a second and both the feeling and the blinking went away so quickly that I just deduced I had imagined it. Or at least that it wasn't all that important. But in the back of my head, I noticed that my leg suddenly ached less and I tried to rest more weight on it, and it didn't hurt as much as it had seconds ago. I shook my head and chalked it up to me imagining things.

I sighed, leaned back against the couch and sipped on my Coke, trying to think happy and optimistic thoughts. Like Starlee said, we were on our way to a nice, fun party planet where, if nothing else, we could have a little fun in between everything that's happened. And hopefully we would find out where the second piece was hidden, and then be a step closer to find the second piece to saving Earth. And the Professor had contacts that could help us. It was a great plan.

What's the worst thing that could possibly happen?

* * *

 **A/N: Starlee wearing roller skates is canon! Yeah, this is a small nod to the sixth season of the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, where she was a reoccurring character. I also tried to create her outfit from that show in a more modern and casual way.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	53. Chapter 52, His True Strength

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Happy Birthday to me! Another birthday, another year older. And yesterday was my 19th Birthday! Hooray! I am so thankful that I get to share it with all of you who read this story and are kind enough to favorite, follow and review! Thank you all so much for every kind word you've said to me and my story for these last few years, and I hope you will all keep following this one until the end. Though I get the feeling it's gonna take awhile before it ends.**

 **I hope you'll like this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 52, His True Strength Shining Through

Okay, so I guess you could say I had had a bit of luck down on Zerij. I mean, yeah, I had handled myself pretty well against Moriah, the cave monster and everything else down there. But no one can deny that I had relied quite heavily on luck. Like I had for most of this whole journey. And it was not a secret that my training with Traximus had not gone very well. Sure, I had done fine sometimes, but more often than not it had resulted in me getting smacked to the ground. But now that I finally started to get a hold of myself and handle myself well in a fight, I hoped to do better in my training. All I had to do was talk to Traximus so we could talk about where we should move from here. And that's why I was currently looking for him, half-running without my crutch.

Funny thing about my leg. After Starlee and I had had lunch, suddenly it hurt a lot less and I didn't feel like I needed that stupid crutch anymore. It still hurt more than it felt good, but not enough that I needed that thing as much anymore. And I still had no idea why that was. I mean, I know Mona's potion was supposed to heal injuries a lot faster (or in some cases, right away) but this was a bit _too_ fast, right? I mean, I had been drinking one drop every day for the past few days, but only now was it starting to take a stronger effect. I had no idea how or why, but it was a welcomed change. If it kept going like this, I would be healed in no time.

Anyway, I was looking around the ship to find Traximus, and eventually found him in the holo-dojo, where he was practicing with his axe against a holographic army of monsters. I understood that I couldn't just barge in while he was training, so I walked up to the big window so I could watch his match while I waited for him to finish. I watched him and couldn't help but be amazed by his strength and precision with that hefty axe. Sure, Traximus was both bigger and older than me and had had more years of practice, but still. Traximus handled that axe like it was a stick and sliced through monster after monster like it was nothing. Whenever he defeated a monster, it dissolved into a yellow, glowing mass of light.

When he finished off the last creature, he turned around and let out a tired sigh. Then he saw me and came out of the room, resting his axe against the wall. "Hello, Donatello. Did you want something?" I came up to him and suddenly felt a little nervous, but I pushed it aside, took a breath and looked up to meet his eyes.

"Well, I've been thinking of our training. I- I mean, I know I haven't exactly shown a lot of progress over the weeks, but-" Traximus raised his hand to make me stop talking, looked over to the couch where Jhanna was still resting and then gestured at the dojo, so we could talk alone. I swallowed, suddenly feeling a lot more nervous about what he was gonna say, but complied and walked into the holo-dojo, Traximus close behind me. The doors closed behind us and I turned around to look at him. Traximus gestured at me to come closer and when I got close enough, he placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Donatello, I know that you want to become a better fighter. But I am starting to question whether you really, _really_ want it. You don't show much enthusiasm during our training sessions, but in real fights you are much more focused. Perhaps you should train be yourself. You seem to do much better on your own." I shook my head frantically and grabbed his arm.

"No, no! Please, I really want you to train me. You're the only one who can show me the best ways to defeat a Triceraton. I mean, you _are_ a Triceraton. Please, just give me a chance to prove it, and I swear I'll give a hundred and twenty percent!"

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow, then sighed and gently removed my hand from his arm. He looked me in the eyes. "Are you sure that you will do anything?" I nodded.

"Anything. Just give me another chance." He hummed in thought for a second, then looked at me again.

"I think I have an idea for a test for you. A test that can prove that you're really willing to do anything. Wait here." He turned around and then left me in the holo-dojo. Through the window I saw him walk up to the computers, where he seemed to program in another simulation. The room suddenly changed and morphed into a woody forest and I found myself standing in a rather small glen. In front of me was a big, steep mountainside. A few feet away was a small table with a bow, an arrow and two round rock weights with a small holes where a strong, black leather sash went through. Traximus returned to my side.

"What are we doing here, Traximus? What kind of test do you have in mind?" Without saying anything, Traximus walked up to the table and grabbed the bow in one hand and an arrow in the other. He looked up to the mountain top, aimed the arrow and fired. It landed at the very top and buried itself almost halfway through the ground. I looked up at the arrow and then at Traximus, who came up to me with the weights in his hands.

"You wish to prove you really want this? Well, I have a little test for you: if you can climb up there and grab that arrow, with these weights with you, I will continue to train you. That's my requirement." I eyed the weights, looked up the mountainside and then back at Traximus, a little suspicious.

"Why do I need those? I mean, wouldn't it be hard enough to just climb all the way up there?" He handed me one of the weights.

"One of these weights stands for honor and discipline," I grabbed the stone by the sash, but the weight was more than I had expected and I almost dropped it because of how heavy it was, and I was forced to lean forward as it hit the ground so I wouldn't drop it. But Traximus ignored that and just placed the other one in my hand. "And the other one stands for true strength." The added weight proved to be too much for me and as I had to grab onto the other one and it hit the ground, I dropped to the ground along with it. I landed on my knees, held back a small grunt of pain due to my- still aching- knee and looked up at Traximus as he walked around me.

"In order to become a true warrior, you will require both." He turned to look at me. "Now, when you have the arrow, give it me, and we will discuss more about how our training will progress from here. Good luck." He gave me a small smirk and left the room, leaving me alone in the forest. I took a couple of deep breaths and tried to collect my thoughts. Okay, so that just happened. This was a very sudden and unexpected way of testing one's skills. Oh, well. Traximus had given me a test, might as well get on with it.

I took another deep breath and then grabbed the weights and tried to stand up with them. It was hard, but I eventually managed to get back up again. The sashes dug into my wrists and the weights tried their hardest to weigh me down again and my knees shook with exertion, but I was determined to not let them get me down on my knees again and sucked it up as best as I could. Honestly, I was also a bit distracted with the awe I felt at how lifelike the weight was- it was all a hologram, yet it was so advanced and immersive that it could have physical mass. Awesome!

… Painful, but awesome!

I eyed the mountain and realized how tall it really was. My guess was that it was close to thirty feet to the top. How was I supposed to climb all the way up there, with these weights in both hands? It would be impossible. But, then again, maybe I didn't have to climb all the way up there with them in my hands? I might be able to find another way to carry them up there, and still have my hands free. I looked down at the weights and eyed the strong leather sash through them. I smiled. I could certainly use these things to my advantage, and they would certainly make things easier.

I approached the base of the mountain, grabbed each weight by the sash and placed my arms through them, resting both over my shoulders. I felt myself stumble under the weight and almost fell to my knees again because of it, but stayed strong, placed one foot on the mountain, grabbed ahold with both hands and started to climb.

To say it was hard would be an understatement. As I got higher and higher, the weights seemed to get heavier and heavier and they constantly almost slipped down my shoulders, which made things even harder. I also felt the weights hit my sides almost the whole time, which also made things harder than it needed to be. I barely got five feet off the ground before one of the weights slipped down from one shoulder, which made the now uneven weight weigh me down and I hit the ground. I grunted in pain and felt my shell ache from the fall, but quickly got back up to try again. This time I rested the sashes a little further up my shoulders, very close to my neck, hoping it would help me a bit more, but of course not. I didn't get much higher before the weight made me slip and fall back down again.

I tried not to be deterred and tried again. But every time I tried and failed, it ate at my confidence. I don't even know how long I had at it; I just kept climbing, fell on my shell, got up and tried again. Rinse and repeat. Finally after, what, my umpteenth time trying to climb that wall, I managed to get higher than I had before. I finally managed to get past the eight feet I had managed to climb before, and it felt like I had a grab on how to climb this time. But then, of course, I slipped on a loose rock and fell down. Again. Only this time, one of the weights landed on my bad knee, and while it didn't hurt as much is I thought it would have, it didn't help, either. I glared down at the weight on my leg and forcefully tried to shove it off, only to be reminded by the sash that was still on my shoulder and yanked forward a bit along with it.

I sighed and looked up. For all my efforts, I still had yet to make it past the ten foot mark. And there was still quite the long way to go after that. I groaned and looked down at the weights.

"This is impossible," I muttered and removed the sashes from my arms. If I kept this up, I would end up breaking them because of those stupid weights. Or worse yet, break every bone in my body thanks to every time I hit the ground. And then how hard would it be to train, with OR without Traximus? I sat up, crossed my legs and started thinking. Obviously this wasn't going to work, so I had to think up another strategy. I looked up the mountainside again. It was steep, but it still looked easy enough to climb. There were plenty of bigger ledges, not far between each other, so if I only managed to get up to the first one, it wouldn't be that hard to get to the others. That is, if it wasn't for those weights. But Traximus had told me that I needed to climb up to the top with them if I wanted to keep training with him. I needed his help if I wanted to become the warrior I needed to be. At least so I wouldn't be helpless against a Triceraton.

Before Traximus had left the room, I had been tempted to ask why he didn't stay here and observe me, but I got the idea that he knew exactly what I was doing in here, and if I had ignored the weights and tried to grab the arrow without them, he would know about it. Also, for all I knew, he might have activated some kind of cameras that followed my every move, so ignoring the weights was not an option. Not that I had considered doing that...

I sighed and rested my chin in one hand and my elbow on my knee. "Okay, so how do I do this? Come on, Donnie. Use your brain; it's the one thing you know how to do." I sighed again and wracked my brain, trying to think up a good strategy. But I really couldn't see how I was going to succeed with that. I grabbed one of the weights and raised it up and down to test it. I growled lowly and threw it aside. Felt like something that even Leo or Raph would have a hard time lifting. So how was I supposed to carry it all the way up there? I sighed again and leaned back against the stony wall and closed my eyes.

"Come on, Donnie. You can do this, you know you can. Just think, what would Splinter do? What would he say?" I focused on Master Splinter and all the advice he had given me throughout my life that I could remember. Splinter had always been one to use riddles as a way to give advice so we would figure the lessons out for ourselves. But I had never been a fan of those riddles. I mean, was it so hard to give a straight answer, just for once? I shook my head to get rid of those distracting thoughts and tried to think even harder.

"Okay, Donnie, think. What would Splinter say? What would Splinter say?" I hummed and thought as hard as I could. Then a memory entered my head.

 _We were about fourteen years old and Splinter had decided we had to run through our obstacle course. And, of course, I had had a tough time getting over the very first obstacle: a big wall. And equally annoyingly and predictably, my brothers got over without any problems. I, on the other hand, had slipped all the way down again before I had gotten that high. Which always frustrated me to no end._

 _I growled and kicked the wall as hard as I could without hurting my foot. "Stupid, brainless, unscientific obstacle course!" And Splinter had decided to talk to me when he saw that I was frustrated. He came up to me and looked at me with calm eyes, and spoke with an equally calm voice._

 _"Is it really the obstacle course you are angry with, my son?" I froze at his words and the anger suddenly faded away as I slumped in defeat, my back turned towards my father._

 _"No, Sensei, I guess not. It's that no matter how hard I train, I can't seem to keep up with my brothers." I kept my head down in shame. It wasn't often I was open about my feelings and my frustrations about training, so when it happened it felt like I was revealing parts about myself that no one had ever seen before. Uncomfortable and awkward, in other words._

 _Suddenly I felt an arm around my shoulders and looked up to see my father smiling comfortingly down at me. "If a tree falls into a river, does the water stop flowing?" I sighed. Another 'wise ninja master quote'? How many of those did he have in storage? Way too many, in my opinion. Still, I had to answer, so I looked up at my father and tried to not sound bored._

 _"No, Master. The water moves around the tree and makes a new path." Splinter retracted his arm from my shoulders, but kept his smile. Though I could see a small spark of deja vu in his eyes. Like this was something we had gone over more than once. Which, to be fair, it was._

 _"Donatello, you are so gifted in the mind, but sometimes you overthink. The challenge is to get over the wall; nothing was ever said about having to climb it." My eyes widened and I rubbed the back of my head with a sheepish smile. Another obvious fact that had flown completely over my head._

 _"Hmm, is it the water?"_

My eyes widened and I found myself back in a light forest with artificial sunlight beaming down at me. I looked down at the weights on the ground and back up at the mountain again. Of course, it all made sense. Traximus had told me to get to the top and grab the arrow with those weights with me. He didn't say how I had to do it. I smiled and grabbed the weights again in a strong grip.

"Thank you, Master Splinter. I will never question your advice again." I paused and thought for a second. "I will just question how you give it." I shook my head and sat up with crossed legs again.

The plan was simple: I cut through the sashes and pulled them out of the holes in the round rock and tied them together, creating a fifteen-foot-long leather rope. And, if my calculations were correct, it would be just long enough to each ledge, all the way to the top one. And if I tied both the weights in one end of the long rope, I might be able to throw the heavy end onto the ledge and use the rope to climb up the rest of the way. Simple and practical.

"I just hope these weights will hold my weight. If they don't, I'll fall all the way down again," I muttered to myself, now having the other end of the rope tied around my waist, and looked down at the stones tied to the other end. I took a deep breath, looked up at the arrow and narrowed my eyes in determination. 'I'm coming for you, you stinker' I thought to myself and started climbing. It was much easier this time, and I reached the first ledge in no time, but as I was about to climb onto it, I felt the rope go taut and tighten around my waist. I held onto the ledge with both hands, found a strong foothold, took another deep breath and heaved myself onto solid ground. The weights on the ground held me back with everything they could and I almost lost my grip on the ledge. But after quite a bit of struggling and heaving, I managed to crawl up- but I had to stay as close to the ground as possible, or I felt like I would be dragged back over the edge again.

I stayed on my knees for a minute to catch my breath before I grabbed the rope and started to pull the weights up to my level. Quite the struggle, that. I pulled and heaved as hard as I could, but I still only managed to pull it a few inches off the ground. I growled and felt tears of frustration burn in my eyes. It felt like even gravity was against me right now, and it was so unfair. And now, when I finally had come up with a new strategy for getting what I wanted, it kept trying to shoot my hopes down. But I had made up my mind; I was going to get that arrow. I was going to become the strongest turtle in the universe if that's what it took to defeat the Triceratons. So I kept pulling and heaving and shouting and swearing at how resistant they were.

Then, I felt something again. My heart started beating a lot faster, the frustrated tears in my eyes almost burned away like acid, only it didn't hurt. It just felt like they melted away or were vaporized or something. But then, and here's the really weird part, suddenly the weights felt a whole lot lighter. I opened my eyes and looked down to see where they were. And when I saw that they were more than halfway up by now, I almost dropped them in shock. How had I managed to pull them up so far, so quickly? Then I saw something flashing in the corner of my eye- the amulet around my neck was blinking again, a lot quicker and stronger than earlier today. What was it doing- and why? And how did it make me suddenly feel stronger and healthier? The ache in my knee was suddenly weaker again; almost nonexistent at this point. My brain suddenly became clouded and any questions or thoughts faded into the back of my head. Instead, I started to pull the weights up, faster and faster until they were resting at my feet.

With this new, sudden strength, I pulled the weights up by the rope, started to swing it as fast I could and then threw them up onto the next ledge. I pulled as hard as I dared on the rope to see if it supported my weight and then started to climb up. I almost found it a miracle that they did support me, but it was quite an effective tactic and as quickly as I got up on the next ledge, I was pulling them up again and throwing them onto the next one, and kept going at this as I got further and further up the mountain.

After a lot of throwing and climbing and feeling sweat run in places I didn't even think _could_ sweat, I finally got up on the last ledge and saw that there were still a few feet until I could reach the arrow. I swore under my breath and realized Traximus probably wanted me to carry these things all the way up again. And there were no more ledges to climb up on anymore. From the looks of it, I would need to actually carry the stupid things all the way up, since it didn't seem like I could do any other way. I groaned and gripped the rope, threw it around my neck and started to climb the rest of the way. I felt the weight of those big rocks hurt my neck, and I suddenly started to feel all of that new energy and strength run out, and I felt ready to go to sleep and never wake up. But I pressed forward, pushing myself as hard as I could to keep going.

And finally, I reached the top of the mountain, sighing in relief and joy as I felt soft grass under my fingers as I pushed myself up again. I ripped the weights off my neck and threw myself on my back and took a minute to breathe and finally relax after hours of pushing and exerting myself. But after a minute, I sat up again and stumbled over to the spot where the arrow stuck out of the dirt. I grabbed it and used my remaining strength to pull it out and looked it over. Hm, what a simple and useless thing to push yourself so hard to get. But still, I had it now, so I was done. I walked up to the edge of the mountain and looked down. Did Traximus expect me to climb all the way down again with those worthless rocks? 'Cause I was not about to do that again. So I grabbed the rope and threw the rocks down the mountain and watched as they shattered once they hit the ground.

I looked down, feeling artificial wind blow through my mask tails, and took a few deep breaths, feeling quite good about myself right now. I let out a long tired yet pleased sigh before I started climbing down again.

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I've never been much of a thinker. To me, actions hold a lot more weight than simple thoughts and I see it as a big waste of time. And I had heard time and time again from Dad, Moriah and Starlee that I really needed to use my head a lot more and not just rush into things like a madman. I was also not very good at strategy and usually made things up as I went along whenever I did something. And whenever I had nothing better to do, I usually found something athletic, or something that didn't involve too much thinking. But considering that Mona Lisa, Donnie and the Professor had forbidden me from doing anything other than rest, it was all I could really do. And after everything that had happened down on Zerij, I had a lot to think of.

As far as I could remember, Starlee had always been rather quiet and not so argumentative. Whenever I said something, she might protest, but not to the point where she folded her arms, sat down and said no like I could do. She seemed to just suck it up and follow the orders she was given, without much to say about it. But today, she had somehow grown enough backbone to yell at me and finally start pushing back, which was something I don't think had ever happened before. And she had stared me down, said what was on her mind and then turned her back on me, like I was the younger sister and not the other way around. And from the looks of it, Mona had agreed with everything she had said, and supported her actions.

I can't deny that I've fought with people before, like my father or Moriah, but I had never fought with Starlee before. And I didn't know how to process everything she had said about me. Like I was acting like a know-it-all and I had a holier-than-thou attitude. At first I had shrugged it off. I mean, me, a know-it-all? I knew my intelligence was not very strong and my education was very limited, so why would she say I acted like I knew everything? And that holier-than-thou thing? I hated people who acted like they were the best and knew everything, so why would I act like one? But after some time alone back on the ship, I had started to think about it a lot more thoroughly.

I knew that I usually told Starlee a lot about how the world works and that her happy little utopia was not real, but maybe I had taken things too far? Maybe I had been acting a bit like a know-it-all?

I was sitting on one of the couches in the dining room, sipping a bowl of soup after Mona had finally told me it was okay to eat again, but told me it was probably best to eat something light. Just to be on the safe side, as she said. But at the time I didn't care, I was just happy to finally be able to eat and had finished three bowls of soup in no time flat. But I was still thinking a lot of what had happened, so it had killed my appetite a little. I didn't feel so good about what I had been thinking about, which really made me less hungry. I didn't like not feeling good. I usually didn't care about the consequences of my actions, since they usually didn't hurt me or affect me, but now it felt like they had hurt someone I cared very, very much about, which made feel worse.

"Hey." I looked up and saw Mona come in with Traximus beside her. I nodded at her and pushed my hair out of my face. Mona came up to me and tried to smile. "How are you doing?" I shrugged and sipped on more soup.

"Eh, I feel fine. I just sit here and try to eat while watching Donnie work out in there." I nodded my head at the 'holo-dojo', as Donnie called it, while not taking my eyes off my soup bowl. Mona looked over at the room and tilted her head to the side, raising an eyebrow over her tired eyes.

"He's still at it? How long's it been?"

I shrugged again and removed the bowl from my lips. "I don't know. Maybe two and a half hours? I haven't really counted. But I think he'll run out of energy soon." Mona pressed her lips together and threw her head to get her bangs out of her face.

"Yeah, energy maybe. But that boy has some seriously stubborn determination issues. He's not gonna quit until he either completes the task or drops dead from exhaustion." I rolled my eyes and put the bowl down on the table again.

"Yeah, I know. But I got a feeling that talking him out of it is not gonna work. So I say we let him waste his energy for now and then pull him out of there if he faints or falls asleep. But I'm sure he'll be fine." Traximus sighed and sat down on one of the other couches. He rested his face in his hand and looked like he felt bad.

"Maybe I was giving him a too big task. I should have given him something simpler to do. He's still injured, and he's young. He does not have the same skills and muscles like me. I gave him too much." Mona came up to him, sat down beside him and placed a soft hand on his arm.

"Don't feel bad, Traximus. I'm sure you only had good intentions about giving him this test. And I'm sure he'll handle it, just maybe not tonight." She barely let those words leave her mouth before the doors to the training room opened and Donnie stepped out. Though he was quite the sight right now. He looked like he was half-dead and had a few small bruises here and there. He had dark rings around his eyes and sweat was covering his body. In his hand he held an arrow, so tightly it was a miracle it hadn't snapped by now. He came up to us and slammed the arrow down on the table in front of Traximus. He panted a little and looked like was about to faint, but he managed to smile and stood up straight.

"See you tomorrow at training, Trax." That was all he said before he turned around and walked towards the showers. Mona and I stared after him and then looked at the arrow. I leaned forward, grabbed it and looked it over.

"This is it? All those hours or training and work for an arrow? What did he do in there, anyway?" Mona came up and looked it over with me. She shrugged and folded her arms over her chest.

"I don't know. Maybe that bad knee slowed him down or something?" We looked up to ask Traximus, but he didn't seem to be listening to us right now. He stared at the arrow in my hands, and a small, soft smile spread over his face. And it showed something I hadn't seen much of. At least, not for me.

Pride and admiration.

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 **A/N: Yes, for those who caught it, I did, *ahem* 'borrow' the test from Mulan. I couldn't help it, it's such an awesome moment in the movie. And Donnie's struggle here felt like the one Mulan goes through, entering a whole new world where everything he knows as normal is gone and he has to learn a whole lot of new things very quickly in order help his world. At least, that's how I see it.**

 **Also the flashback I used in this chapter comes from TMNT episode 0, which you can find on Youtube incase you haven't seen it. It's really more of a gameplay of sorts, but still, it's fun to watch incase you love the 2012 cartoon.**

 **I hope you liked this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	54. Chapter 53, Grief, Heartache and Pain

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Well, this was not fun. So I've been working on a one-shot for my friend CJtheStoryteller, and I finished it last week. But here's the thing: ever since I got this Mac, I started to write my chapters in Doc Manager since I found it easier to do that, and I guess it just kinda stuck. But lately my Mac's been acting a little weird, so I copied and pasted the story into Microsoft Word and finished it there. So I deleted the document I had in Doc Manager, saved the story on my computer and then tried to upload it on here, only to find it gone. Not thrown away or deleted, gone. Word can't find the document, and I can't recover what I had from Fanfiction, so it's literally just gone. I can rewrite it, but it feels pretty bad that my hard work for the last few months coming up with the story and finding time to write it, is all gone without any explanation. So... yeah, that's several months' worth of working gone down the drain. And the same thing happened when I wrote this chapter, so I almost had to start all over again. So my computer has started to work against me. Great.**

 **Anyway, I have some happier news to deliver. It's less than a week 'til my high school graduation! Yay! But I still have things to do, like finish all the preparations for the graduation day, find a job and find out what I have to do to get my driver's permit. But still, I'm almost done with high school! I can't wait!**

 **I hope you'll like this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 53, Grief, Heartache and Pain

 _"Journal Entry: May 1st, 2014_

 _Okay, I am seriously starting to think the universe hates me or is out to get me at the very least. I don't know how else to explain my long string of bad luck. It has been less than a month since April left us, and I'm already feeling like she's been gone forever. I miss her so much that it feels like my heart's gonna burst. Thankfully the last few weeks have been rather hectic, so I've had a bit of time where I don't have to think about her so much. For instance, the mutagen that we dropped over the city mutated a squirrel and... well, it crawled into a homeless guy's stomach, where it replicated itself, and the guy vomited them up again._

 _Man, I'm only now realizing how weird our lives have become as of late. And that's excluding the Kraang, crazy ninjas and mutants that we've been fighting all year._

 _Uh, anyway, we've been a bit busy, so that's always at least a little good. But still, it has not been a good month for me. First April left us, then when we were out on patrol I, ahem, spotted her in the park where she usually studies, and I saw her with a guy. And it really looked like they were on a date! She was on a date with some punk human kid! Now, I know I have no say in what people she meets and wants to get to know, but still, she had never said anything about some other guy. Much less that she was dating him. And if I know April at all, she would not start dating anyone after just a couple of weeks. She always told me- all of us, really- that she wanted to get to know people really well before she decided to go on a date with anyone. So who was this guy? What's his name? How well does he know April? Why does he know her? I always thought she hated those 'bad boy' (ahem, Raphish) type of guys, so what was she doing with that guy?_

 _I don't mean to sound like a jealous jerk here, but seriously, how come she was hanging out with someone like that? I had been trying to get her attention for months, and I'd really started to think I was getting somewhere until that accident happened, and now, not a month away from us, she decides to hang out with a guy like that? Why? I'll tell you why: because he's a human! And April has made it clear that she wants a normal life right now, so of course she clings onto the first 'normal' guy she meets. 'Cause at least he won't get her family into trouble or get her into situations where she might get killed. So that makes him better than me- I- I mean us!_

 _And not only that, but Timothy escaped from the lab today. He had listened to my April-talk and decided he wanted her to be his friend. Without her being okay with it, of course. But it wasn't his fault- it was mine. I didn't think before I opened my mouth, and left mutagen out in the open for him to take. Just like the irresponsible idiot I am. And when we tried to fight him, I ended up having to freeze him just to make sure he wouldn't hurt anyone else. I have no idea if I can even help after this. I mean, even if I did manage to create a retromutagen, it would take years for him to thaw him out again. So, maybe Leo is right. Maybe there is nothing left to save. Maybe Timothy is lost cause. Maybe I've failed him beyond repair this time._

 _And it's not like my brothers have been the least bit helpful about the issue. All they ever seem to do is laugh at my misery or question my ways to let out my emotions. Like I'm some crazy nut or something. Raph even had the audacity to call Timothy, and I quote, 'a pile of guts in a jar'. I mean, he kind of is, but you don't need to say it! I know what I've done to him, an innocent, and I know just how severely I've ruined him! And whenever my brothers would even mention Timothy, they would talk as if he was a thing or monster, not a person mutated into a... creature. It's not like he asked to be turned into that kind of mutant. I mean, yes, he wanted to turn into a mutant, but he still didn't want to be turned into a blob of organs and bodily liquids. He just wanted to be like us, because he looked up to us, and I allowed him to be misled for too long. It was never his fault that his life turned out the way it did._

 _Look, it's not like I don't understand where they're coming from. I mean, from their point of view the relationship between me and Timothy must seem pretty weird and kind of one-sided. And in the end our friendship had only resulted in hardships or problems for us. And admittedly he was kind of annoying, overzealous and kind of dimwitted. So I can understand why they didn't really like the guy and only saw that one side of him and didn't understand why I defended him so much. But what was I supposed to do? Let an innocent guy wander into danger like that? Or let him throw his life away by entering a dangerous war? I was only trying to help him not get himself killed. I never wanted any of this to happen to him. I took responsibility for him, and I failed him. No matter how he made me feel before, it doesn't change that what I let happen to him was wholly undeserved and cruel._

 _I can understand why my brothers don't like Timothy; I really can. But he had been a really good friend for me when I needed to talk about my feelings, despite the fact that he couldn't talk. In fact, if anything, the fact that he couldn't talk made me feel better around him. Sure, it would have been great to hear him talk back a few times, but it was still great to have an actual person to talk to without feeling like he could make fun of me or mock me because of what I said or what I felt. Not like my brothers, in other words. Sure, it all backfired spectacularly, but it had still been nice. But of course nothing good ever lasts for me._

 _And, like I said, my brothers are no help at all. Right now there's nothing but teasing, mocking, yelling and orders thrown at me with very little reassurance or compassion. I know it's all part of being a family, driving each other crazy, but it's still hard to find the drive to keep trying when they never let up or give you a five minute break every once in awhile. They don't respect me, they don't respect my friends (sans April, but she was really OUR friend, not just mine, so she doesn't really count) and they certainly don't respect my inventions or what I think. All it ever is, is 'Donnie, do this', 'Donnie, do that', 'Donnie, stop talking!' 'Donnie, fix this' and the always popular 'Donnie, speak English!' Rinse and repeat, every single day for the past few months. I feel like I'm turning more and more into servant rather than a brother._

 _Ugh, I'm really starting think that I'm not meant to have friends. At least not ones I can believe will stay with me. April's gone, Metalhead has been reduced to a lab servant and Timothy has turned into an ice sculpture. There's nothing left for me. I have no one to talk to. ...I don't blame my brothers for not wanting to deal with my problems, though. I mean, they have their own problems and shouldn't have to deal with mine. They're not even that big- it's not like I have amazingly huge issues that need to be solved right this moment or bad things will happen or anything like that. And I have been fully capable of fighting my own battles for all of my life, so it's not like I can't handle this on my own. I've been alone for most of my whole life and have fought my problems and learned to use my mind as my greatest weapon. And the one thing I know I can rely on is my mind and the things I've learned. So I've learned to rely on my brain and my mind to guide me through life and through tough choices. As Laurence Sterne once said: "In solitude the mind gains strength and learns to lean upon itself.""_

I sighed, closed the journal and leaned back in the chair. This was obviously not helping me get my mind off New York, so why bother anymore? I didn't want to feel worse than I already did.

Today had turned out to be a rainy day, so Splinter had once again refused to let me, Mikey or Leo go outside. April and Casey, outside of doing a few chores, like getting firewood and gathering the chickens up inside their coop and locking them in, had no desire to go outside either. So we were all crammed inside the living room and trying to find something to occupy ourselves with. Mikey and Casey were playing one of the old video games that April had left here when she was a kid, and both seemed to be blind and deaf to what was going on around them. April was reading a book beside them on the couch and she seemed to have tuned them out, or she had at least gotten so used to them and their loud voices that they didn't bother her anymore. Master Splinter was drinking tea and trying to meditate on one of the rugs, but he had asked to turn on the radio so he could listen to the news while doing it.

"So that we might hear some news about New York," he'd said. But the one news channel we found on the radio that spoke anything of New York seemed to be too busy playing soft, sad piano songs to respect the victims that had lost their lives or were trapped in the city, or the families that were split up because of this 'unexplained tragedy', as they called it.

Leo was sitting in a chair in front of the fireplace and staring straight into the bright flames without really seeing anything. A single glance at him made me realize how different this Leo was from the Leo I had grown used to over the past year. His confidence seemed to have fled from his eyes and his posture had gone from straight, proud and strong to slumped, lazy and sloppy. His eyes were reddened, had dark circles around them and his cheeks were wet with tears. His skin was a lot paler and he had lost a significant amount of weight over the past three months. He wasn't scrawny, per say, but still looked too thin to be healthy. But the worst thing wasn't how he looked- it was the negative energy he seemed to radiate. His eyes were dull and unseeing, but they were still full of grief and heartbreak. He didn't look like Leo anymore; he looked like someone else entirely. Someone else who had long since been broken.

I looked at him over my shoulder, sighed and turned away. I had no idea what to do. I knew Leo was upset about everything, but his grief was so much deeper than it should be. And I felt bad for the guy. Not only was he still trying to deal with Donnie's supposed death, had to lead us into a massive invasion just after we lost said brother, which was probably really hard for him, but he also found out that the reason why Donnie was gone was because of the girl he had been crazy about for so long now. Imagine what that does to a guy. But I had no idea what to say to him or what to do to make him feel better. I had never had a crush, or cared about anyone in that way before, and I had been against Karai since day one and had tried over and over again to tell him that trusting her was a bad idea. So what could I say to make Leo feel better? Like, at all?

I leaned back in my chair as far as I could and sighed again, absentmindedly starting to listen to Mikey and Casey's banter and quips about their game. But I was still thinking about my brothers- one of them in particular.

Donnie said in his journal that he had been struggling with his problems alone for almost his whole life, and that alone was enough to make me feel bad. Where it should be enough that he trusted a big blob of guts and organs more than us, he also wrote down that he trusted us so little that he'd rather deal with his problems alone than ask us for help. I guess we had mocked him and teased him so much that he was afraid we would do the same for his actual problems or how he felt about things. And, in retrospect, I couldn't blame him. I mean, one time when he had reached out for support about his crush on April, I had called him sadorable and told him to leave me out of his 'pathetic attempts to woo April'. Of course he didn't trust me with his feelings for her or ask me for advice on what to do with them. And chances are that he was worried Leo would react the same way and Mikey wouldn't listen or take it seriously. But still, the fact that he didn't even seem to trust Splinter with his problems was more than a little worrisome.

When we were kids Donnie had always been off doing his own thing. He never asked for us to join him, he never asked if he could join us and he never complained about being alone. Oh sure, we had played together, but it was usually because we wanted him to join or because Splinter forced us all to do something together. To strengthen our teamwork, he said. But it's not like we never had fun together! I had quite a few memories of us having fun in the sewers or playing in the lair. But there were not many, to be sure, and Donnie did spend a lot of time on his own in his lab. I guess that's what happens when you're the only one in a family of ninjas that is not interested in being a ninja and want to focus on other things than your training. He's also the only one who's had a crush, so there's no one except Splinter that he can talk about it with. Well, except Leo, but I don't think Leo's the easiest guy to talk about these things, since he technically had a thing for our half-sister.

Still, Donnie shouldn't feel like he has to go through life alone. I mean, we're his brothers; his flesh and blood! If he can't trust us, then who _can_ he trust? April? Anyone at all? Donnie had never been an outgoing guy, so how would he be able to make friends with anyone that he eventually felt was trustworthy enough to share these things with? I mean, if he didn't trust us with it?

I was yanked out of my thoughts as Splinter's voice broke through them. "April, would you please turn up the volume?" April looked up from her book and over her shoulder at Splinter, nodded and turned the volume on the radio up a few notches so that radio host's voice filled the room.

"-and our hearts go out to all the people who have been trapped in New York because of the quarantine and the families who have been split up because of the alleged tragedy in New York." Casey scoffed and rolled his eyes, putting his controller down on the coffee table.

"'Alleged tragedy'? Yeah, it's all so obvious that people who have no idea what happened were told to say this junk." April shushed him and turned back to the radio. In the corner of my eye I saw Leo turn to look away from the fire over his shoulder and towards the radio. His eyes were still empty and dull, but there was slight interest in them now.

"We all hope that the situation will clear up soon, that everyone can go back to their homes and everything will go back to normal. For now, all we can do is have faith in our military and their ability to sort things out."

I rolled my eyes and folded my arms over my chest. "Yeah, in other words, the people in New York are doomed until we can get there to save them." Splinter turned to look at me with tired and annoyed eyes, but didn't say anything. He just got back to his meditation as the speaker stopped talking and music started to play again. Mikey and Casey turned back to their game and April turned back to her book. But she forgot to turn down the volume and I felt my muscles tense as a soft piano song started to play. I knew exactly which song this was. I groaned and turned away from the radio and tried to tune out the music, but then the singing started.

 _"It's been a long day without you, my friend. And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again."_

 _"We've come a long way from where we began. Oh, I'll tell you all about it when I see you again. When I see you again"_

Everyone in the room tensed and froze in whatever they were doing, all focus now on the music. April looked up from her book and Mikey and Casey paused their game. Leo's posture got extremely stiff in his chair and his stare into the fire got even more intense. He clenched his fists so tightly they started to turn white and I almost thought he was gonna break the bones in his hands. But he didn't do anything; just kept staring into the flames as if he was trying to ignore the song. Not that it seemed to work.

But that was nothing compared to Splinter's reaction to the next few lines.

 _"Why'd you have to leave so soon, yeah? Why'd you have to go? Why'd you have to leave me when I needed you the most?"_

 _"'Cause I don't really know how to tell ya, without feeling much worse; I know you're in a better place but it's always gonna hurt."_

 _"Carry on. Give me all the strength I need, to carry on, oh, oh..."_

Splinter kept his eyes closed, but he didn't look as relaxed anymore and his ears drooped. His whole posture and his facial expression became extremely strained and it looked like he was fighting against something internally, but tried not to let it show. He pressed his eyelids together as tightly as he could and his tail thumped lightly against the wooden floor, like that of an agitated cat, like it sometimes did when he was upset or worried but trying not to let it show.

 _"It's been a long day without you, my friend. And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again."_

 _"We've come a long way from where we began. Oh, I'll tell you all about it when I see you again. When I see you again."_

 _"Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh."_

Leo looked away from the fire long enough to see Splinter's reaction and suddenly his miserable demeanor was gone and he looked more worried and concerned. Mikey also looked away from the TV when he noticed that Splinter didn't look entirely alright at the moment. April and Casey shared a concerned glance before April put down her book and Casey turned off the TV. April pressed her lips together and wrapped her arms around herself and tried to fight back her tears, which Casey noticed almost immediately and gently placed an arm around her. And for once she didn't seem to mind that he was touching her like that. The only people outside of her father I've ever seen her allowing to get that close to her was Mikey (mostly because she didn't always get much of a choice, since Mikey was Mikey) and… well, Donnie. I always assumed she didn't like to be touched and only allowed a few people to do it.

 _"How do I breathe without you? I'm feeling so cold."_

 _"I'll be waiting right here for ya 'til the day you're home."_

Splinter stood up from the floor so suddenly it made us all jump and turn our attention to him. He took a few deep and shaky breaths, still didn't look at us and his ears still drooped.

"I'm sorry, I must excuse myself. I… I need some fresh air." His voice sounded all wrong, too. He sounded weak and broken and not like the strong ninja we all knew he was. But he didn't wait for anyone to respond; he just hurried out of the room and we heard the front door open and close as he went outside.

We all stared after him for about a minute, then turned to look at each other again. Mikey got up from the couch and went over to the window to see where Splinter went. Thankfully he hadn't gone that far- he was just sitting on the bench on the porch at the back of the house. He turned to look towards Leo and me with concern clear in his eyes.

"Dudes, he looks upset. Like, really upset. Think we should do something?" I sighed and leaned back in my chair again. It was a tricky question. I mean, we all knew why he was upset and why the song had suddenly made him so sad. But what could we do to help him? Splinter went into his own chambers when he was upset, sad or anything else, so we didn't have much experience with comforting him- so would we really be able to help him? April wiped her eyes and turned down the volume on the radio again.

"Maybe he just needs some time alone. I mean, sometimes people need to be alone with their grief." Leo shook his head and completely turned away from the fire, looked at us and spoke for the first time in a long time.

"I don't know, April- it doesn't seem like such a good idea right now. Sensei's been going off on his own when he's felt sad for months now without saying what he feels about this. Now, I'm not a psychologist by any means, but I don't think that's so healthy for anyone." Mikey nodded and walked over to us.

"Yeah, Leo's right. He's always telling us that we need to rely on each other, be there for each other- we need it. So shouldn't we do the same thing for him? I mean, he is our dad. He's always there for us when we need him, so shouldn't we be there for him too?" Leo and I looked at each other and nodded.

"Mikey's right. We need to be there for him too. And it looks like he really needs some support right now." Leo got up from his chair and grabbed his crutch. I nodded and got up as well.

"Yeah, alright." I turned to the window to get a look at Splinter and Mikey was right- he looked really down in the dumps right now. I had only seen him like that a few times, and it still felt really weird.

April got up from the couch and looked at us. "You want us to come with?" Leo shook his head and tried to smile.

"No thanks, April. No offense, but I think he really needs us right now. I mean, I know he sees you like an adoptive daughter and all that, but I think it'd be a little stronger if it was just us."

April nodded understandingly and brushed some hair out of her face. "Alright. Casey and I'll just get started on lunch, then. You take all the time you need." Casey looked up in surprise when he heard his name being brought up, but didn't get much time to react before April grabbed him by the arm and dragged him towards the kitchen, much to his dismay.

Leo, Mikey and I took a good look at each other, nodded to each other and headed towards the door.

* * *

One of the benefits of my mutated body was the fur. It had helped me stay warm during the harsh seasons of the year and helped me keep my sons warm as well. It also helped right now, during this early autumn. Most of the snow had washed away last night and today, but the temperature was still low. And the rain didn't make it better. But the fur was a bit of a plus right now. But even still I felt cold inside, and no fur or clothing could help with that.

For the last three months my heart had been aching and my dreams had been full of memories from my past mixed together with what my sons had told me about that fateful day in the tunnels. It still didn't ache less than it had the day I received the news. Donatello's absence was still a glaring one and I still missed hearing the sound of his voice or seeing his big brown eyes or his bright, radiant smile every day. In my mind I could see and hear him speak to me, tell me what he would say or do if he was in the situation in question. Or, instead of hearing my own voice in my head, I heard his and he would be the voice communicating my thoughts to me for quite some time.

I believe it's every parent's worst nightmare: seeing their child die before they do. Outliving your own children shouldn't be something that could happen and no parent should ever have to go through that pain and suffering. To be forced to go through the unimaginable. I've tried my hardest for the last sixteen years of my life to keep my boys as close to me as possible and protect them from the cruel, twisted world they were born into- and whenever the fear of them being put in danger entered my mind, I tried to push it as far away from me as I could. I had already gone through that pain before and I couldn't bear going through it a second time. And yet, it had happened again. First Miwa and now Donatello. Would Fate be so cruel as to try to take away all my children from me? What would I do then?

My eyes wandered over the lawn in front of me, and the forest growing just at the edge of the property limits, and still I didn't see much. Instead I saw memories play before my eyes like old home movies. Donatello's first word (my name; and hearing it said in that sweet, innocent little voice had nearly brought me to tears- right now it _was_ bringing me to tears), the day he learned to crawl, to walk and the day he'd chosen the bo staff as his weapon. He had been so proud each of those times and he had always looked to me, as if to say, 'look, Daddy, aren't I great?' and wanted me to say that 'yes, you are, my son. I am so proud of you'. So he'd know that he had done something good.

Donatello had always tried so hard to please everyone around him and for the longest time I couldn't understand why. He was already so brilliant for one so young and while his ninja abilities weren't as good as his brothers, his determination and dedication despite knowing he wasn't the best was always enough for me. I didn't need an amazing ninja; I just wanted an amazing son- and he had always been, and that had always been more than enough. But recently, after thinking over what he had told me, what had happened in the past and how it had led up to the events that took place (not necessarily the tragic incident with the Kraang portal, but the tension between him and his brothers and how he felt alone and unloved in his own family- no child should ever feel like that), I can only assume he did everything he did just to make sure we wanted him around. That we cared about him for something.

When he was a child he had asked me why had I kept him around, and how was he useful in our family when he was nothing like his brothers? At the time I had been shocked that a six-year-old had been worried that he didn't belong in his own home, but I hadn't heeded the warning bells in my head as I should have. I hadn't brought it up with his brothers and questioned what they had told him that might have warranted those questions. How long had Donatello suffered in silence? How long had he asked himself whether his family truly loved him or really wanted him around? And how had those thoughts and questions affected his spirit and psyche?

I sighed and drew my fingers through my fur and looked out over the lawn. "Oh, Donatello, how I wish you were still here. You are needed right now. No, not just needed- you are missed. And how I wish there was a way for me to tell you that you are loved, not just by me but by everyone in this family. And every day when I wake up and realize this is my reality I die a little inside. If only there was a way for me to trade your life for mine; I would do it in a heartbeat. You were so young; so full of life. I'm old and will be gone soon. Why did life have to take one so young?"

I sighed again and tried to hold back my tears, only for them to slip through my eyelids anyway. "I- I know I let you down. I know I turned my back on you when you needed me the most and didn't hear your cries for help. I know I don't deserve it, but if you could find it in your heart to forgive me…" I couldn't finish the sentence as a sob clogged up my throat and my voice cracked because of it. More tears slipped down and wet my fur. "...That would be more than enough." A soft autumn wind blew through my fur and I couldn't help but shiver because of the cold.

It was also hard to get through the days seeing how heartbroken and disheartened my sons were- and it was hard to blame them. The boys have been together since their pet shop days and have always had each other, whether it was always appreciated or not. So to have one of them gone forever must be just as hard, if not harder for them than for me. I knew I shouldn't wallow in my own misery and should try to be strong and supportive for my children, but it was hard working through this pain for a second time. They needed me to be there for them and be strong, but I couldn't. Not right now, anyway. I know everyone works through their grief at their own pace and that this kind of grief you never really get over, but I had to be there for my family. I was the only adult here and they needed a hand to guide them. But how could I?

Donatello, my child, how could Fate be so cruel as to take you away from me so soon? Why couldn't it have claimed me?

I may not be old enough for death to be right around the corner, but I've lived a long life while my boys' lives have barely begun. But life is rarely just and if I've learned anything from my life, it is that neither love, life nor death discriminates between the sinners and the saints. It takes and takes and takes without caring who it claims or how it affects them or the people around them. Life and death come to us all, but sometimes it comes to the wrong people and in the worst ways imaginable. But still, Donatello was just a child. He had barely begun truly living and his life, it seemed, had been full of neglect, hurt and heartache. I had tried to understand him, I had tried to be there for him, but it was hard to understand such a brilliant young mind. And it made things really complicated when he talked about ideas and theories that I couldn't understand, no matter how hard I tried.

"Sensei?" I jumped slightly and turned to look over my shoulder. Peeking around the corner of the house were my sons. Leonardo was leaning slightly on Raphael's shoulder, due to his bad knee no doubt, and Michelangelo was hovering over his other shoulder. Their eyes were on me and radiated with concern and worry. I quickly straightened my back and wiped the tears from my eyes.

"My sons, what are you doing outside? This temperature could be dangerous for you!" I tried to put on my 'stern Sensei voice,' but my previous sobbing had made my voice weak and slightly cracked, so it didn't come across as very stern. Michelangelo took a good look at my face, then hurried over to the bench and sat down beside me.

"Are you alright, Sensei?" He gripped my arm and rested his head on my shoulder. At first I was a little taken back by his sudden act of affection, but relaxed rather quickly. I gently pulled my arm from his grip and placed it around him.

"Yes, Michelangelo, I'm fine. I just… needed some time to breathe. To clear my head. I am fine, my son." Michelangelo just looked up at me with his big blue eyes, usually full of light and- as my sons would call it- goofiness, now looking at me with a raised eyebrow and a small frown. He then rested his head against me again and closed his eyes.

"Dad, you don't have to pretend for us. We know you're really upset." Dad? It had been years since any of my sons had called me that. But it wasn't that that really surprised me. His words and what he meant with them was something I had not expected to hear. But I didn't get any time to respond before Leonardo and Raphael came over and sat down beside us, Leonardo sitting down on my other side and Raphael beside Michelangelo.

"Mikey's right, Sensei. You don't have to act like everything is fine; we know it isn't. We know you're probably going through hell right now, pardon my French, and you don't have to pretend like you're fine." Leonardo placed his hand on my other arm. And for the first time in what felt like weeks, I saw a familiar flame in his eyes. The same flame that burned whenever he wanted to help his family, in any way possible. Raphael also nodded and tried to smile at me.

"Yeah, you're always telling us to be honest about how we feel. You shouldn't feel like you have to hide anything from us. We're your sons- you can trust us." Raphael sounded so genuine and gentle, it was like hearing his voice coming from someone else's mouth. His words took me by surprise. I was sure my grief had been obvious and, given my stories about Tang Shen and Miwa, they surely understood what I was going through. But I hadn't expected them to be this straightforward about it.

I will admit, I have tried to not let my emotions rule over me and affect my family, but I hadn't expected them to confront me about it. Donatello's death had affected us all, but I suppose I had tried a bit too hard to battle my emotions and grief on my own. Even Raphael had confided in Michelangelo and Casey about his denial and how he felt after all that had happened.

I sighed and placed both arms around my children and hugged them close to me. Michelangelo immediately returned the hug and Leonardo was also rather quick to return it. Raphael, who was sitting beside Michelangelo, went down on his knees and rested his head in my lap instead and wrapped his arms around my waist. All of a sudden, it was like they were just little children again, seeking the warmth of their father.

I still had to fight to keep tears from falling from my eyes, but this time I was simply happy to have my remaining sons here by my side and more than willing to help me- just as I had always tried to help them. So I suppose you should call them tears of joy rather than tears of pain. I pressed my eyelids together and tightened my grip on my boys.

"Thank you, my sons. I know we have lost much, but I am grateful to still have you in my life."

* * *

 **A/N: Boy did this chapter take longer than it should have! I blame writer's block and having problems with Word. But now it's here, and since I am also almost done with school, so I hope I will have more time to write.**

 **I'd like to give a special thanks to my beta This-Violet-of-Mine, who gave me the idea for this chapter, by using music to display emotion. But I got the idea to try and display Splinter's emotions for a change, and while both Violet and I decided that See you Again would be a good song to use in this chapter, I also got inspiration for Splinter's part in this chapter from the song It's Quiet Uptown from the musical Hamilton, which I highly recommend you listen to, whether you read the chapter or not. It's just beautiful and is fittingly enough about a couple who've just lost their first child. Fitting, yet so sad!**

 **I really hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	55. Chapter 54, No Reptiles Allowed!

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Pop quiz! What's got two thumbs and just graduated from high school? This girl! Yes, that's right, I've finally graduated high school and I'm done with twelve years of school! What a big relief. And I'm taking a few weeks for vacation and to just get away from all the stress I got from school before I start looking for a job. So hopefully I'll get more time to write, because the Ypsagon-arc is one I have been looking forward to writing for some time, since my beta and I have been talking about ideas for this story, and this arc has quite a bit of action, emotion and darkness. Hopefully you'll enjoy this arc, starting today.**

 **I hope you'll like this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 54, No Reptiles Allowed!

"Now remember, Donatello, the average Triceraton relies solely on his strength. And we, as a species, have very small brains. So most Triceratons have nothing but brute strength." I nodded and looked up at Traximus, who stood in front of me in the holo-dojo and had his 'serious trainer look', as I had come to recognize it as. Traximus had a certain seriousness about him that reminded me so much of Master Splinter, but without any of the dry wit and snarky sense of humor, which at first had made training a bit tough to get through, but I was starting to get used to by now. Though it didn't help that I usually had kneel down in front of him when he was talking or doing demonstrations.

We had been training almost nonstop for the last few days, and I'm happy to report that I was finally starting to show some progress. Not much, to be sure, but I was able to stay on my feet for the most part when we sparred, and that was enough for both him and me. Traximus had been very pleased when I had finished his test, so when he had come into the dining and entertainment room where the girls and I ate breakfast, he had told me to finish quickly so we could start as soon as possible. Which had made me incredibly ecstatic.

And now Traximus was talking about the best ways to fight Triceratons, and he had my full attention. He looked me in the eyes with serious and honest eyes of his own. "I'm going to be honest with you, Donatello; you will never be as strong as a Triceraton. But you can be smarter, and use your size and brain to your advantage. You can work on your agility and speed, as well as your physical strength, and thus learn to defeat them in ways they won't see coming." I nodded and gripped at my kneepads.

"Okay, but do Triceratons have any weak spots? I mean, I know all warriors have their own unique strengths and weaknesses, but still, are there any specific weak spots I should know of?" Traximus smirked lightly and gripped his hands behind his back.

"Yes, you might say that. Even though we have very compact bodies and strong bones, there are certain parts you should aim your attacks for, if you want them to be effective. We have rather weak knees; our skin is weaker and the armor is not as strong in those places. But I really think you need to focus on training your speed and agility. Zanramon's men have brute strength- that's _all_ they have. Even strength has to bow before intelligence every once in a while." His smirk turned into a gentle smile and he leaned down slightly so he could look me in the eyes. "And you have more than enough intelligence, don't you?" I blushed lightly and looked away.

"W-well, y-yeah, I-I guess." He smiled a little wider, then straightened up again and got into a fighting stance.

"I will now show you a technique that might be a little tricky, but once you get it right it will be most useful in a fight. I learned this from a fight with the Federation in my youth. It did not translate well into my own fighting style, but I think you will have an easier time doing it. It does seem to work better for smaller beings, such as yourself." I nodded and jumped to my feet, ready to soak in everything I could.

Traximus got into a rather basic stance, his left foot slightly to his left in front of him and the right foot slightly behind him. He also placed his arms in a familiar manner, looking ready to defend himself. He looked over at me for a second.

"Now, observe carefully." He ran forward a few steps, did a small jump and landed with his feet in the same position, twisted his upper body and reached his right arm forward and then reached up his left arm in a motion that made it look like he was throwing someone over his shoulder. He looked back at me.

"Now, I will show you again- slower. Observe carefully." I nodded and he got back into position. He did the move again, only in virtual slow motion this time. But when he got to the part where he reached out his right arm, he turned to look at me.

"When you do this," he moved his right arm in the same motion a few times to show what he meant, "you have to aim slightly below the kneecap." He showed the point on his own knee and made the move all the way through, moving on to the next part with his left arm.

"And when your opponent falls forward, you place the your hand here." He placed his other hand on his chest, slightly below his solar plexus. "It will give you an advantage, as your opponent's weight needs to be on your side, or you will more than likely break your wrist or entire arm. You should probably practice this move on lighter opponents until you get it right. No need for you to hurt another body part so soon after your knee healed, correct?" I smirked and shook my head.

The fact that my knee had healed as quickly as it had was something that really puzzled everyone on the ship. Mona in particular was incredibly confused with how well the fire lily potion had worked, claiming it worked well, but not _that_ well. I had been confused at first, but eventually chalked it up the fire lily potion being stronger than we had thought. I mean, what other explanation could there be? There was no other logical explanation for the quick healing. But then again, nothing had felt logical for the last few months. But, either way, I had used this new development to train as much as I had energy for. If I was going to lead these guys into a war with the Triceratons, I needed to go from The Inventor to Captain/Leader.

I got to my feet and into the same position as Traximus and clenched my fists lightly. "I'm gonna try the move. I think I get it." I narrowed my eyes in determination and ran the movements through my head a few times before I took a few steps forward, ready to try the move. I jumped, twisted my upper body and tried to move my arms in the same motions Traximus had showed before I turned to look at him. He smiled lightly and walked up to me.

"Almost." He grabbed my right arm and gently moved the it the correct way. "Your arm needs to be straight, or you might risk injuring it. And your left arm was too low. A little higher, or you might end up having your opponent land on you. And remember, keep your back straight." He let go of my arm and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Try again." I closed my eyes, took a deep breath through my nose and let it out of my mouth, nodded to myself and narrowed my eyes again, ready to try again.

But before I could do anything, a loud crash was heard and the ship jolted so sharply that I completely lost balance and I would most likely have hit the ground if Traximus hadn't grabbed me and steadied me. But even he had a hard time keeping his balance. The floor seemed to move under us, and the ship suddenly turned upside down, making both of us fall to the floor. Traximus wrapped his arms protectively around me to make sure I didn't hit my head. Thankfully the ship's jet rockets evened it out again and it turned rightside up rather quickly. I drew the conclusion that the ship had hit something and that that something must've been really big and had quite the orbital velocity. But why had we hit anything to begin with? I mean, the Professor had mentioned something about us going through an asteroid belt today before arriving at Ypsagon, but hadn't he programmed for the ship to avoid the asteroids?

Once the ship was flying normally again Traximus removed his arms and looked down at me. "Are you alright, Donatello?" I nodded and drew a shaky breath.

"Y-yeah, I- I think so. Thanks." I drew another breath and stood up on shaky legs, with Traximus following my example. "What happened?" The Triceraton looked back out the window, towards the control room.

"I believe the ship hit something. We should go and check, just to be safe." I nodded and we both headed out of the holo-dojo, the new kata completely forgotten.

In the control room the Professor was already working on the computers as Traximus and I came in through the doors, with the girls hot on our heels. But before I could say anything, Jhanna took the initiative and started shouting angrily.

"What the heck happened, Zayton?! I thought you programmed for the ship to _avoid_ the asteroids!" I winced at her loud voice and placed one finger over my left ear to avoid any damage to my tympanic membrane. Jhanna rarely called the Professor 'Zayton' anymore, so I knew she was really angry- and an angry Jhanna could be either really productive (less likely) or really dangerous (exceedingly likely) depending on the situation, so somebody needed to calm her down before she broke something. Starlee seemed to realize this and placed a steady hand on her sister's shoulder to try and calm her down while I stepped up to the Professor as he started to explain himself.

"I did! And I highly doubt that my calculations were off. According to the ship's computes the route was safe, until a sudden change. My best guess is that one of the asteroids hit another one, which resulted in it hitting our ship. It's incredibly difficult to factor ricochet into the calculations as it's hard to foresee and predict the amount of force." I looked over his shoulder at the computer screens and saw that he was right. I glanced over at the other screens as well to try and gauge how bad the damage was, but couldn't find any, so I turned to the Professor.

"How bad is the damage to the ship?" The Professor pressed another button and the screen showed the whole ship, a few red circles pulsating on the roof, slightly above the right wing. He groaned and clutched at his head.

"Ugh, wonderful. It seems we've received some heavy damage to the ship's fuel containers. I can easily fix the hole in the ship, but the roof has been severely damaged and we don't have the tools to fix that. Plus, we are going to need to make sure there's nothing else broken that we can't see." I nodded and in the corner of my eye I saw Starlee come up to us, still wearing her roller-skates, to look over the damage. Mona also started speaking.

"Will we be able to get to Ypsagon?" I checked the damage and then how far away we were from the planet. I nodded and turned to look at her.

"We should be. Ypsagon is less than an hour away, and if we speed up a little bit we should get there in thirty minutes. We should be fine." Both Jhanna and Mona let out a sigh of relief and Traximus also seemed a bit relieved.

"I don't think we have much of a choice. We need to there before the ship receives more damage or the fuel containers give up. I say we go for it." The Professor nodded and started to speed up the ship.

"Well then, let us go forward!" Starlee and I looked at each other, nodded and left him to make those changes on his own. It would probably go quicker that way, anyway. Jhanna leaned on one leg, slightly tilted her head to the side and rested her hand on her hip.

"So… what do we do now? We'll be there in thirty, but what do we do until then?" I shrugged, but before I could answer, Traximus opened his mouth and rested one hand on Jhanna's shoulder and one on mine.

"We should pack a small bag of essentials for the night. It's late and by the time we arrive it should be dinnertime. We should find a hotel or an inn to stay at while the ship gets repaired. It would be too hazardous to stay in the ship while the work is done. So I suggest you pack a bag with clothes and whatever you need for the night." We all looked at each other. That sounded like a good idea, so we all headed off in our own directions to pack.

I didn't have much to pack other than my weapon, T-Phone and the leather pouch Chief Patowan had given us that contained the money he'd generously donated, plus the two thousand zemulacks that crazy native guy had given us on Zerij. I also grabbed the tracker-amulet from my drawer and placed it around my neck so I could keep an eye on the Black Matter inside. There really wasn't much else to pack, and I didn't have any bag to put it in anyway, so I was pretty much ready to go.

I ran back to the dining room to wait for the others and found Traximus already there. He had his axe in hand and nothing else, but he didn't seem to need anything else. I eyed him from the door and then slowly walked over to sit on the couch. I had been training with Traximus for some time now and we had shared the same living space for the last few months, but I still knew so little about him. I knew he had been a soldier in the Triceraton Army once upon a time, he had tried to overthrow Zanramon at one point and had ended up in prison for twenty-something years, and he seemed very wise and compassionate. But that was pretty much it; I knew nothing else about him. But I was still scared to ask him about things, because I didn't want to touch any nerves. Still, I couldn't help being curious.

Jhanna and Starlee came in through the doors with one bag each thrown over their shoulders. Jhanna had a relatively small bag, probably with her nightclothes and some other necessities she thought she might need- she wasn't one to bring things she wouldn't need. Starlee had a slightly bigger bag, probably to contain her tech, some clothes and whatever else young girls on the run to save a planet carried with them.

Mona didn't bring anything other than the bottle with the healing potion, her weapon in her belt and the pink ribbon she currently had tied around her neck. Nothing else seemed to be needed. Jhanna walked up to me and adjusted the bag over her shoulder.

"So, we're all ready, right?"

I nodded and leaned back on the couch. "Yeah. I guess all we can do is wait." She nodded and sat down beside me, rested her feet on the coffee table and laid her head on the couch's backrest. Starlee came up and sat down on the opposite couch, waving at Mona to join her, to which Mona agreed with a soft smile.

No one knew what to say so I leaned my head back, closed my eyes and dreamed myself away. It wasn't something I did too often, since I found it hard to turn off the scientific part of my brain, but sometimes I managed to do it. And right now, I dreamed myself back to Earth, but not to New York, as you might believe. No, I found myself in a small town in the state of Maine. A little town named Chamberlain, where a young, tortured girl with telekinetic powers lived. Not in real life of course, but in the Stephen King realm of fiction known as CARRIE.

Yeah, I didn't think too much of Mr. King, but when I found that book in the sewers and read it for the first time, it really spoke to me and it quickly became one of my favorite books. I had seen myself in Carrie White's character and found myself wishing death and destruction on the people who hurt her, which was quite the achievement as I didn't wish death upon that many people. Not even my worst enemies. But Carrie's plight made me identify with her and I had found myself wishing for the same kind of powers that she had so I could punish people who wronged me and hurt me. Then I woke up and realized that I could never kill anyone, not even on my worst days. Especially not the people I cared about, like my friends or family. Yes, my brothers and I didn't always get along. Yes, I had a hard time talking to my father. And yes, Casey and I had our disagreements and arguments. But I could never bring myself to severely to hurt them, let alone kill them. Carrie managed to kill her mother with her powers (never mind that she actually deserved it) but she had been devastated afterwards, despite the situation and what her mother had tried to do to her.

I clutched the amulet around my neck and it felt like something was pulsating inside the metal- it made something inside me feel warm. I was starting to feel strange about this amulet, since it had acted really strange around me. My heartbeat got faster and my whole body seemed to react when the lights started flickering like they sometimes did. It hadn't made me feel sick, quite the opposite really, but it still felt wrong for some reason. I would need to talk to the Professor about it later.

"Everybody, we're here! Get ready to land." I jerked from my thoughts and opened my eyes. Starlee was quick to get up on her feet and quickly skated to the other room- that was going to be a common occurrence now, wasn't it? Jhanna and Mona also got up and ran after her. I was still clutching my amulet and it almost felt hard to pull my hand away from the thing. I looked down at it, as if I expected it to attack me or something, and I found it a little hard to tear my eyes away from it once they made contact. When I finally managed to look away, I found myself alone in the room, so I hurried into the control room, hoping I hadn't missed too much.

Once I got into the room, the first thing I saw was the planet outside of the window. Out of all the planets I had seen so far, this had to be the one most unique-looking and quite literally out of my world. Though I understand that's not really saying much, considering I hadn't seen that many yet, but still. It looked like something I could see in a Star Wars movie, or any sci-fi movie, really. The planet was bright red, nothing at all like Mars, and it almost looked like a ginormous colored lamp. It also had a thin asteroid belt around its circumference. It was much smaller than the ones on Saturn and it wasn't as solid, but still, it was very much there. It was also much bigger than both Zerij and Filione had been. I couldn't help but smile at the sight and walked up between Mona and Starlee to get a better view.

"It's so beautiful." Starlee looked up at me and smiled widely, letting her pearly white teeth show.

"Yeah, isn't it? I can't wait to go down there and see what they've got to offer." Mona looked over at her with a small smile, but a serious look in her eyes.

"This isn't a vacation, Starlee. We're here to find Pluto Khan, take whatever info he's got for us and then leave. Nothing else." Starlee rolled her eyes and brushed her bangs out of her face.

"Yes, I know that! But we might still be able to have at least a little fun before we leave. It's been so long since we've been able to enjoy anything! I mean, there's not that much to do on this ship that's fun." Jhanna looked over at her sister with a teasing smirk.

"Speak for yourself, sis. I always manage to keep myself entertained." Starlee just groaned and rolled her eyes again, only this time without any smile or sign of tolerance and kept her eyes locked on the planet ahead. Jhanna noticed this and her smirk faded into a hurt frown. Mona and I eyed each other, silently asking each other whether one of us should say anything, but before we could the Professor looked up from his computers with his usual cheerful smile.

"We are on our way down now- we should land in two minutes. Please sit down in the pods and keep your arms and legs inside the pod at all times until we have landed safely." We all hurried down to the pods and sat down as the ship started to fly downwards. It went by pretty fast and before I knew it, we had flown through the planet's atmosphere and landed by what looked like some form of workshop for spaceships. Once the ship had landed, I got up and looked over at the Professor.

"Professor, we're gonna go and try to find a hotel or inn to sleep in. Are you coming?" He looked up and shook his head.

"No, I think I should stay here. I will stay and help with the repairs and make sure it all goes well. Besides, I don't need sleep. I'm a cyborg, remember?" We looked at each other, nodded, said a quick goodbye and wished him luck before heading towards the doors.

The first impression I got from Ypsagon was _hot_. There were two burning suns in the sky that were both setting, and the temperature must've been over 104° Fahrenheit. I had only been outside for a minute and I was already starting to sweat.

Next I noticed that it was big, loud and pretty crowded. Sure, most people seemed to be going inside clubs, pubs or other places, but there were still a lot of different kinds of aliens running around. But one thing that really hit me was the color of most of the houses: a bright green. Oh, sure there was a lot of color here and there; really it was like one big color palette. But there seemed to be a whole lot of green in there, too. Though, like I said, not everything was green. Most of the people were wearing different colored clothes, the houses had splashes of color here and there and ahead of us, in the town square, was a huge water fountain- the blue water really stood out against all the green. The road also had a nice hue of yellow, and in the dying sunlight it looked like gold. It all reminded me of the images of The Emerald City from the Wizard of Oz when Splinter had read it to us when we were kids. And it knocked all the air out of my lungs and I couldn't look away.

"It's… it's so beautiful." Starlee nodded with a wide smile and sunlight gleamed in her eyes. She looked just as blown away as I was.

"I know, right? It looks like we stepped into paradise!" Jhanna also looked impressed, but she looked a tad more skeptical, with a raised eyebrow and a small frown on her face.

"It looks like we stepped into expensive-town. How the heck are we gonna afford a room at any of these places?" Mona looked over at her and pushed her bangs out of her face.

"Well, we could just ask anyone if they know of any less expensive inns around here, or any other place. There has to be some place in this city we can afford." I nodded slowly and bit my lip. Both Jhanna and Mona had a solid point. This city looked extremely expensive, but there had to be some place that was less pricey around here. At least I hoped there was, or I had no idea what we would do. I took a deep breath through my nose, let it out through my mouth and hastened my steps.

"Come on, let's try to find a good place." We walked up the street and kept an eye out for anything that might look like a hotel or inn. But every one we came across was way out of our price range. Traximus took the lead and thankfully he had placed his axe on his back and covered it up a little so no one would see it was a weapon. Sure, Jhanna, Mona and I also had weapons, but they were not as conspicuous as Traximus' axe, so we hadn't bothered covering them up.

But as we kept walking, my eyes jumped around from place to place and I almost forgot what we were doing. Everything was so beautiful, bright green, and the sun's light in the green stone made it all look like actual emerald. It was absolutely breathtaking and it was hard to look away. This whole part of the city was mostly made up of skyscrapers, palaces, mansions, tall apartment buildings and all kinds of other buildings. Loud music was pumping out from almost every building, and there were a lot of big signs that I assumed would light up after night fell. It all looked like a bigger and fancier version of Las Vegas.

I suddenly bumped into someone and we both fell to the ground with a shared yelp of surprise. I hit my head against the golden pavement and quickly sat up, rubbing my head to try and quell the throbbing pain. The other guy didn't seem to be feeling much better, groaning miserably off to the side. He was also a sort of reptilian creature, though he was more dragon-like than lizard-like, his skin an almost pure black and a long tail with stubby spikes protruding from the base of his spine, dark red spots blotched under his green eyes. He was rubbing his head as well.

I gasped and reached out, placing my hand on his arm. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"

He looked up at me then smiled a wide, toothy smile, patting me on the shell. "No worries, man; it happens. It ain't like I'm made of glass or somethin'. 'Sides, I've been drinkin' a bit more than I should, anyway." I frowned slightly and just from a slight sniff I could confirm his drink of choice. Very potent alcohol- quite a bit, too, from the looks of his body language and the way his eyes couldn't seem to quite focus on any one thing. I wasn't overly personally familiar with the mannerisms of the inebriated, but even I could tell that that kind of glaze over his hazy eyes meant he'd be suffering quite a hangover later. I quickly got to my feet and helped him up.

"I'm really sorry, man. I just didn't look where I was going and-" The guy just waved it off and shook his head with a smile and a soft chuckle.

"Relax, dude. 's cool. Ain't one to hold a grudge and 'sides, we're here to have fun, ain't we?"

I nodded stiffly and tried to smile, though I'm sure it didn't look very convincing… Not that he could probably register that in the first place. Regardless, I extended my hand for him to shake. "Uh, my name's Donatello, by the way."

He smiled and reached out his own hand, but instead of shaking my hand, he smacked it in a kind of high five. "M'name's Kaiden. Cool to meet another reptile 'round here." He patted my arm and jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the building behind him.

"Hey, wanna go inside? We could grab a drink and meet up with my pals." I was about to politely shake my head and decline when I heard Jhanna calling for me.

"Donnie? Come on, what are you hanging around there for?" She wove through the crowd with Mona and Starlee right behind her, Traximus hanging back- probably so he wouldn't scare the poor guy to death. However, Kaiden didn't seem too scared by the sight of a Triceraton and just grinned brightly at all of us; it was the oblivious kind of cheer that I often saw on Mikey. I shrugged and looked over at the others.

"Guys, this is Kaiden. I accidently bumped into him, so I just wanted to make sure he's okay." I turned back to him. "Kaiden, these are my friends: Jhanna, Starlee, Mona Lisa and Traximus. We're traveling together."

He beamed at my friends and spread out his arms as a drunken greeting. "'ey, th'more the merrier! 'Ya new?"

Starlee, bless her, nodded and smiled politely as though he was behaving completely normally. "Yeah, we're staying for the night while our ship is getting repaired. But none of us have ever been here before." Kaiden laughed enthusiastically (and perhaps a bit exaggeratedly) and lightly nudged her shoulder.

"Yeah? Well boy, 'dju pick the right place to be! Ypsagon's the best planet t'be if you wanna have fun. There's parties, casinos…" He trailed off for a second, either losing his train of thought or trying to think of more attractions, "oh, and beaches… and casinos... and, and amusement parks! Lots to do while ya wait!"

Mona smiled a bit awkwardly and took a step forward. "Right now we would be glad to find a place to stay for the night. You wouldn't happen to know of a good place, would you?"

When Kaiden's eyes fell on Mona he seemed to freeze, and he just stared at her for a while. Eventually he snapped out of it and took a step toward her, taking her hand and trying his darnedest to be charming. "I'll gladly help a fellow reptile out. 'specially when she's a pretty Sal'mandarian." I expected Mona to frown in disgust and push him away, but instead her cheeks flushed and she placed her hand over her mouth, trying to hold back a giggle. It was kinda weird to see her suddenly so easily swayed, especially since she usually didn't let others this close to her (I mean, just look at how long it took for her to get used to me and the others). But I suppose most girls will be receptive to a charming and- I guess? - handsome guy. Especially if he's complimenting her looks; most people like being told they're attractive.

Jhanna rolled her eyes and tapped him hard on the shoulder. "Yeah? Then you might wanna answer the question."

He looked from Mona to Jhanna, swallowed nervously and quickly let go of her hand. He cleared his throat and his cheeks flushed slightly in embarrassment. "Oh, uh, right. 'course, Miss-" Jhanna cut him off, her arms folded over her chest, leaning on one leg and tilting her head to the side. The look in her eyes made him shrink back in terror.

"Don't call me 'Miss', mister. Just answer the question so we can-" Starlee glared up at her sister and sharply elbowed her in the side, and while the older girl cried out in pain and rubbed the injured area, the younger stepped forward and smiled her usual compassionate and friendly smile.

"Please forgive my sister, kind sir; she has very little practice in good manners." She spared a moment to pointedly glare at her sister, who shot her a three-fingered salute that I assumed was their equivalent of the middle finger, before the friendly smile was back and aimed at our new 'friend'. "Please, if you know how to help us, we would be most grateful." She looked slightly up and batted her eyes to warm the guy back up again, and it seemed to work, as Kaiden's warm smile returned and his body relaxed again.

"'course I'll help ya. It'd be my pleasure to help such polite young ladies-" he took a second to look disapprovingly at Jhanna before his gaze rested on me, "-and another r'spectable reptile. What's yer price range?" I reached into my belt to grab the pouch of money, but my hand was stilled by Mona's resting on top of it. She seemed to have woken up from her flattered, flirty state and was back to her normal, somewhat cautious self.

"Let's not tell him too much. We don't know who he is or what his motives are. Besides, we can't spend all our money on a hotel room, right?" I nodded and smiled reassuringly at her.

"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing. If he tries to steal our money, we have four warriors on our side and he's one guy. We'll be fine." Seriously, growing up watching the interactions in the seedier parts of New York from afar had taught me quite a few helpful things in regards to handling your money safely.

Mona didn't seem entirely convinced, but let me pull the leather pouch from my belt and give it to Kaiden. He opened it with clumsy fingers and quickly counted through the coins and bills (having to restart a few times when he lost count, which didn't help Jhanna's dwindling patience much) before he gave it back to me.

"Well, ya seem to have quite a bit. Though I take it yer not gonna look at the luxurious places, yeah?"

Mona shook her head and rested her hands on her hips. "No, we were given the money to complete a task, so we need to save as much as possible. I think we should try to just spend a few hundred zemulacks."

Kaiden winced, hissing lightly through his teeth and shaking his head. "Then you might have a problem there, Miss." My smile fell slightly and I was little worried for a second. What did he mean, 'problem'? Mona grimaced and Starlee tilted her head curiously.

"What do you mean? Are there no hotels that are that cheap?" Kaiden shook his head and raised his hands to calm her.

"No, not 't all- there're quite a few. The problem's that most of 'em are in a neighborhood that isn't exactly, uh... how should I say this? Uh, let's jus' say that they ain't very fond of us reptiles. Most likely won't letcha in." He pointed at me, Mona and Traximus. He shrugged apologetically with a wry smile. "Sorry, nothing I can do." We all shared a deeply concerned look. Jhanna sighed and rested one hand on her hip, looking completely done with this planet already. I was starting to share the sentiment.

"So what do we do now? Try anyway or go back to the ship?" Traximus shook his head and opened his mouth for the first time during our conversation.

"We can't do that, remember? The ship is being repaired and it would be too dangerous to stay the night in it. I say we go and see if there are any places we can stay in, and if we can't find any, we'll have to go one of the more expensive ones. I don't see what else we can do." Kaiden had been listening to us the whole time, then perked up.

"Oh, or you could camp out in the woods." Everyone turned to look at him. His smile widened and he jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "Yeah, a lot of people come here from all over the galaxy just t' see the night skies here. You can just join 'em, buy some food and camp out. It won't be that expensive and it's easy!" Traximus hummed thoughtfully and looked to me and Mona.

"Would that be alright for you, if it turns out we have to do that?" Mona and I looked at each other and shrugged. It didn't look like we had any other options, so what could we really do?

Jhanna and Starlee shared a look and shook their heads. "Hey, we don't have to split up! We can all go out in the woods if you have to do that!" Starlee grabbed onto Mona's arm frantically. Jhanna nodded her agreement and made eye contact with me.

"Donnie, you know what happened last time we split up! Is it really such a smart thing to do right now?" I shrugged and pressed my lips together.

"Well, the circumstances aren't exactly the same and we don't have many other options right now. So what can we really do?" Mona nodded and folded her arms over her chest.

"Besides, we can always communicate with each other if something goes wrong. It'll be fine." Jhanna and Starlee didn't look convinced, but Traximus calmed them by placing one hand each on their shoulders and smiling.

"You don't have to worry, girls. We'll meet up back at the ship tomorrow and figure out our next move there. And if something happens, like Mona Lisa said, we can always contact each other through comm link. Everything will be fine." Starlee and Jhanna looked at each other, seeming conflicted, before they sighed and nodded in unison. Seriously, they were so different and had difficulties getting along, but any outsider could see that they were freakishly in tune with each other.

"Okay, if you say so. But let's go see if there is any place we can stay at _before_ we split up, alright?" We all agreed on that, asked Kaiden for directions for the neighborhood he had mentioned, thanked him for his help and made our way down the street.

It wasn't that hard to find the correct neighborhood, really. At the town square with the huge fountain, the road split itself up into four different roads, and the one Kaiden had mentioned looked a lot less grandiose and maintained in comparison to the rest of the city.

As we walked down the street, Mona, Traximus and I picked up a lot more hostility. All kinds of aliens started to look at us in disgust, anger or fear and closed the doors to their clubs, pubs and hotels. But it all was nothing compared to the more physical stuff that happened.

For example, as we passed one pub, where a couple of older guys sat on bench outside, I got a can thrown at me, and Mona got a plastic club thrown at her head. Traximus didn't get anything thrown at him, but I guess even the dumbest, most small-minded bigots aren't stupid enough to tick off a Triceraton. Especially since this one carried a weapon on his back. They weren't smart enough to keep their mouths shut, though.

"Hey! Go back to the forest, you dirty reptiles! This city wasn't built so you could come and wreck it!"

"Yeah, isn't it bad enough to harass the entire galaxy with your pointless wars? Why do you have to drag them to our fun, too?"

I pressed my lips together and tried to ignore them. I knew these kinds of guys weren't going to listen to anything we had to say, so I tried to not listen. It was hard, though- partly because they were extremely loud, but also because of their hurtful words. Like _all_ reptiles had joined the Triceratons in their wars! Like all of us backed the Triceratons!

But still, I knew they weren't worth getting angry over, so I tried even harder to ignore them. Traximus didn't show any emotion at all, almost as if he hadn't heard or seen them, and Mona just brushed them off like it was nothing.

But Jhanna was not about to let the insults go unanswered and stopped dead in her tracks, turned towards them and yelled back so loudly that her cheeks started to turn purple. "Hey! Why don't you mind your own business, losers! We're not bothering anyone, we're just walking here!" If she scared the guys at all, they didn't show it. They just laughed and pointed at her. Starlee grabbed at Jhanna's arm and tried to drag her away from them.

"Come on, Jhanna, let's go. Just leave them be- they're not worth the time or effort," she whispered, but Jhanna just yanked her arm free and glared over at the jerks, still lounging on their bench. One of the guys, a huge yellow alien with a potbelly, pointed at me and then at Mona with a clawed finger, smirking.

"Hey, you spineless do-nothings don't got the guts to defend yourselves? You need a humanoid little girl to stand up for you?" Jhanna's whole face turned purple with rage and she grabbed at the sword in her belt, about to stomp over to them when Traximus grabbed her by the shoulders and lifted her off the ground. She kicked and squirmed while screaming at them and flailed with her arms to try and get Traximus to put her down.

"Shut up, fatso! You don't get to smack talk my friends- only I get to do that!" Traximus rolled his eyes and gestured at us to keep walking. As we started to walk, we heard the guys on the bench mocking us until they were out of earshot. Only then did Traximus put Jhanna back down on the ground. She was still brimming with anger and turned to him, nearly frothing at the mouth. "What did you do _that_ for?! I would've made them regret insulting any reptiles for the rest of their lives!"

Traximus growled slightly and shoved her a little to make her quiet down. "Jhanna, stop screaming; you're just attracting more bad attention. By attacking prejudiced people, you're not making yourself look any better- or the parties you're defending." Jhanna's anger start cool down slightly, but she was still quite angry and glared up at Traximus.

"How can you _say_ that? You mean you don't want to make those guys stop talking trash about reptiles and how they're all evil monsters? You know it's not true, so why shouldn't we call them out on it?!" Mona rolled her eyes and whacked Jhanna over the head.

"Newsflash, Jhanna, those kinds of guys are everywhere. You can't make them stop thinking stupid thoughts just by yelling at them. If anything, you only make it worse. They get to see the satisfaction of seeing you angry and 'weak' so to say. Besides, you only do the same thing as they do: yell insults and be a jerk. Why stoop to their level?"

Jhanna stared at both of them with a wide mouth and disbelief in her eyes. She then turned to me, closed the few feet between us and grabbed my arm desperately. "Donnie, you see my point, right? We have to call these guys out on beings bigots, right? They can't just say these things and not get retribution for them!"

I shook my head and held my hands up placatingly. "Of course they can't- but yelling and screaming and threatening to attack people just because they say or do dumb or bigoted things isn't the way to do it. My father told me that people are afraid of what they don't understand, and scared people usually want to have something to blame for how bad things are. For example, if there's a war going on, it's much easier to put all the blame on one group of people rather than try to see things from every perspective. Especially if they don't have all the answers, or if someone tells them that it's that group of people's fault."

Jhanna bit her lip and took in what I said, but I started talking before she could answer. "Also, I've come to learn that it's important to let mean words and nasty comments just wash over me. Words are just words until I decide to take offense and turn them into weapons. And yes, sometimes we need to fight back and stand up for ourselves- but _not_ against people who obviously aren't worth the effort. Now, come on, let's keep moving." I didn't wait for an answer from her and we started to trudge down the street again.

Eventually we made it to a small hotel with a two-headed doorman posted outside, and both of their heads, with four eyes on each, were focused on us.

Starlee smiled and pointed to the door. "Come on, let's try here!" She ran up to the doorman and smiled her angelic smile. I guess she was hoping to warm them up so they would let us all in. But this guy didn't seem to be quite as easy to sway as Kaiden had been.

"Hi! My friends and I are looking for a place to stay for the night. Do you have any rooms available?" She batted her eyes, smiled sweetly and folded her hands behind her back. The doorman's left head looked to the right one, then they both shook their heads and said:

"No reptiles allowed." Starlee jumped back at his (their?) loud voice and lost her smile. Her eyes darted left, then right, and then back at the doorman. She laughed nervously and put on her cute smile again, though this time it looked a bit forced.

"Uh, heh, but our ship is out of commission and we can't afford any of the other hotels. So maybe if you could overlook your policy just this once, we would be very grateful-" she'd barely finished the sentence before the guy interrupted and pointed to his left.

"Look, kid, this hotel doesn't harbor war criminals. Find some other place and _beat it_." Jhanna went up to her sister, lightly shoved her behind herself and glared up at the guy. She still seemed a bit unwilling to talk after what had happened before, but her eyes said more than enough: 'Don't start yelling at my sister.' Mona and I came up and I pulled the pouch from my belt.

"We're not asking for charity, man. We'll pay for it." The left head narrowed its eyes at me, leaned down to my eye level and his many eyes seemed to try and stare into my soul.

"Money you've earned, or _stolen_? Because we don't let thieves stay here, either. Get out of here." Mona narrowed her eyes and took a step forward.

"Hey, this isn't off-limits. The hotel doesn't let reptiles in, but we can stand here as much as we want." Apparently loitering wasn't illegal on this planet, as that statement wasn't contested by the creature. Instead the doorman's right head looked over at her and he lowered his voice threateningly.

"If you don't leave this place in five minutes, I'll call the cops."

I placed my hands on my hips and glared up at him. "On what charges?"

He seemed stumped and started thinking for about a minute, but then he seemed to get an idea and looked back at us. "Harassment and unlawful threats." Both Mona and I looked up at him in disbelief. My jaw hit the ground and Mona's eyes were dinner plates. We looked at each other, then we looked back at him and it took a whole lot of effort to not start yelling at him.

"Unlawful threat- when did we threaten you?" I felt the anger rise in me and I had to remind myself of my own advice and not start upbraiding him. Mona nodded and from the looks of it she also had a hard time fighting back her emotions.

"Yeah, and how are we harassing you? We haven't done anything. We're just looking for a place to sleep at for the night, nothing else. We're not looking for a fight." The doorman groaned in annoyance and grabbed a sign that stood close to him.

"Look, you two probably can't read, but this sign clearly says 'NO REPTILES ALLOWED!', so beat it. You're scaring away other guests." Traximus came up to us and gently ushered us away.

"Come on, now. It's clear we're not wanted here." He placed one arm around me and the other around Mona and led us down the stairs that led up to the doors to the hotel. Jhanna and Starlee looked after us as we got back on the street, and Jhanna's anger was starting to burn in her eyes again.

"Hey, that's not fair! They haven't done anything wrong!" His right head glanced over at her for a second with eerie calm and even a small smile.

"Calm yourself, Miss. Let me handle these troublemakers; I'll help you two in a minute." His voice was a lot nicer and calmer than it had been just a second ago, which made it clear that he wanted Jhanna and Starlee to check in, but not us. I just rolled my eyes and looked over at the sisters.

"Come on, girls. It's not worth it." But before either one of them could answer, the doorman turned to me, all of his eyes turning cold and harsh in less than a millisecond, and he pointed threateningly at me.

"Shut up, freak! Don't order the young ladies around!" Starlee was now also starting to look more and more angry and she took a step forward, lightly pushing him and glaring up at him.

"Hey! Sexist pig! I can stand up for myself perfectly fine, thank you very much!" The guy looked down at her, obviously trying to remain calm, and somehow managed to look apologetic. Before he could apologize, she continued somewhat smugly, "But that's the least of your issues, buddy. As a young lady, I'm quite appalled at the language you're using towards my _friends_. You should be ashamed of yourself." She was going to say more, I could tell, but Traximus gently called the girls over and they both came without another word to the doorman. Traximus looked down at them and gestured with his head at the guy.

"Ask him much they take for a room for two." Starlee's eyes widened, Jhanna shook her head and both of them started to protest loudly. But he placed a hand on Jhanna's shoulder and looked down at Starlee.

"You two have to stay somewhere for the night, and we are obviously not welcome here. We will do as Kaiden suggested and camp out in the woods."

The girls' protests were hard to deny, and normally I would have agreed that they could just camp with us, but Ypsagon was a hot, muggy planet, and apparently it stayed so even at night. For the reptiles of our group, this wasn't much of a problem- I much preferred higher temperatures because, even though I was technically warm-blooded, I still had a very low tolerance to cold and found that I'm quite turtle-y when it comes to enjoying basking in warmth. We'd talked this over earlier and found that for Mona and Trax, it was the same- but Jhanna and Starlee were much more humanoid, and their core body temperatures would cause them to be completely uncomfortable with sleeping in high temperatures. They needed air conditioning.

Mona nodded and brushed some hair out of her face with a forced smile. "Yeah, we'll buy ourselves some food and find a good place to sleep. We'll be fine."

Jhanna frowned and folded her arms over her chest and Starlee shook her head. "But-" I held up a hand to stop her and looked back to the guy.

"You have to ask him. He won't answer to us and we need the money to buy food. Ask him." Both sisters looked at each other, sighed and Jhanna turned back to the doorman.

"How much do you want for a room for two?" He gave a disgustingly nice smile and tried to act like the hostility from two minutes ago hadn't happened at all.

"Four hundred zemulacks, Miss. And that includes dinner and breakfast." I rifled through the pouch, eventually found four one-hundred bills and gave them to Jhanna.

"You guys go. Stay here for the night, and we'll meet back up at the ship tomorrow after breakfast, okay?" Jhanna clearly didn't want to say okay, but she knew there were no other way to do this, so she nodded and she and Starlee headed up the stairs again. But she looked up at the doorman with narrowed eyes and showed as much resentment as she could.

"Don't expect any tip from us." That was all she said before she dragged Starlee in through the doors and disappeared from view. Traximus sighed and led us back up the street.

"Come now. It will be dark be soon." Mona and I looked at each other, sighed and followed him. But we kept eye contact for while and we were both thinking the same thing: Ypsagon had not been a very pleasant 'paradise' so far.

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 **A/N: Boy, this turned out longer than I had expected it to be. But I really wanted to give some action, and show some good from Ypsagon and not just the bigoted jerks. Also, it's nice to finally show some of the reptilian-racism I introduced back on Filione. Well, okay, not NICE nice, but you get my point. But this starts out my Ypsagon-arc, and I hope you have fastened your seatbelts. It's gonna be a bumpy ride from here on out.**

 **I hope enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	56. Chapter 55, From Sister to Sister

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Hi! Happy (late) Independence Day! I know it's an American Holiday and I'm not American, but everybody should be able to celebrate independence, whether the almanac says so or not!  
I have been waiting to write this chapter for so long, and I have been thinking long and hard about what to put in here- so much so that I decided that it would be necessary to split it all up into two chapters so it wouldn't be so long and so there wouldn't be too much for you to remember for the future. So I split it and hopefully I will complete the second chapter very soon.**

 **I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 55, From Sister to Sister

When it comes to emotions, there are a few that I am more familiar with than others: distrust, disgust, suspicion, even jealousy weren't strangers to me. But the one I guess I could say I'm the most familiar with is anger- and in one day I had been angry not one, not two, not three, but _four_ separate times. That was a record, even for me.

But out of all those episodes, I was scolded for all but one, which was quite new. No one had ever really told me to essentially get over myself and shut up. That was new, and no one had taken my side today. Seriously, two guys are bad-mouthing my friends, I try to stand up for them, and what happens? They tell me that it's not worth the effort and to just ignore them! How's that for appreciation for me trying to be a good friend? And then Donnie goes on about how telling these guys off isn't gonna solve anything? How else are we gonna get rid of bigots if we aren't allowed to speak up? Ugh, it's just stupid!

And Starlee had been especially disrespectful towards me today. I could understand her still being sore over our argument back on Zerij; I'm not above holding grudges. But today she had acted like she was above listening to me, she had done me physical harm and interrupted me when I tried to deal with a situation. That dragon guy had just wasted our time and was clearly too drunk to think straight, so why not get the answer straight away and then be on our way? I can deal with Traximus, Mona and Donnie not agreeing with me, but Starlee was my sister! My younger sister, too. She was supposed to listen to me and learn from me, not act like she knew better than me.

We were in our room, having just eaten dinner down in the hotel's restaurant and now getting ready for bed. Starlee was taking a bath after I had taken a shower and now I was currently sitting on my bed, fingers on the sword I always kept in my belt and on my still wet, waist-long hair. After Mona Lisa had cut off her own hair, I had wanted to do the same, since my long hair was a pain to look after and took a lot of time and effort to maintain- much more time than I wanted to spend taking care of hair, of all things. But I wasn't sure how to do it, since it was hard to see how it looked behind me. Especially since there wasn't a mirror in this room and I didn't want to disturb Starlee in the bathroom. I could make it easy and just cut it as short as Mona had with her hair, but I didn't quite want it as short as that. But it was hard to know how to cut it and make it look good. I gripped the handle of the sword with one hand and grabbed my hair with the other and held it up over my head, gently placing the sharp blade against it. I was about to cut through when I hesitated again and started to move the blade up and down, trying to measure where to cut.

"Jhanna, what are you doing?" I looked away from my hair (having my eyes rolled so far to be able to see well was starting to make them ache) and at the bathroom doorway, where Starlee was making her reappearance, dressed in her newfound light blue nightgown and her hair hanging down and clinging to her cheeks and shoulders. I immediately put the sword down- absentmindedly hearing it hit the floor- and let go of my hair, letting it fall down my back.

"Nothing! I was just, well... trying to cut my hair. That's all." Starlee tilted her head slightly to the side, then smiled lightly and came up to me, sitting down beside me on my bed. I looked at her from over my shoulder, but her colorful nightgown distracted me from her face. I still had to get used to her new, more colorful clothes and hairstyle, but I was glad that she finally ditched that ugly Federation uniform. It made me feel slightly better that she had willingly left the Federation life behind.

"Do you want help?" She smiled and picked up the sword from the floor. I was about to snap that _No_ , I most certainly did _not_ , but then decided against it. I seriously didn't want her to resent me any more than she already did. So I just nodded without saying a word and let her grab her hairbrush and get a good grip on my hair. She hummed quietly to herself as I felt the brush move through my hair for a few minutes, my scalp tingling pleasantly at the sensation, until she felt satisfied. Then she grabbed the sword and placed her hand on my shoulder.

"So, how do you want it? How much do you want to get rid of?" I shrugged and pushed my fingers through my bangs, pinning them up on my head and then letting them fall down over my face again.

"I don't know- just... shorter." Then I turned to look at her again. "But not as short as Mona's hair, just so you know." I said it firmly enough to make sure she got the point, but still made sure I didn't sound angry. She nodded and I faced forward again, looking distractedly out the window. I felt Starlee finger at my hair again and heard her hum quietly again. I could feel the sharp edge of the sword lightly tap against my neck; then she pulled it with mild force and I promptly heard sharp snipping sound and suddenly my head felt a lot lighter. Starlee got up from the bed and ran into the bathroom with my detached hair to dispose of it before quickly returning with a small pair of scissors in her hand, plopping back down beside me on the bed.

"Just let me trim it a little bit- it'll just take a minute." She started to cut the ends of my hair and then made me sit with my face towards her, grabbed her brush and brushed through my disheveled bangs, blinding me as I had to close my eyes so I wouldn't get hair in them. Starlee brushed a little, then I heard and felt the scissors cut through my bangs. But after a while I started to get sick of the silence and peeked an eye open to look at her.

"How did you get so good at cutting hair, Star?" I couldn't help but ask. Starlee laughed lightly and I felt the scissors snip dangerously close to my ear and I couldn't help but jump in surprise.

"What, do you think dad took care of my hair for me? I did it for myself. Most of the things I've learned that aren't technology or science or math I've taught myself, since Mom wasn't around to teach me." She became a bit too quiet after she mentioned Mom and just grabbed a towel, dried my hair and brushed through it again before she seemed satisfied. She smiled and placed the towel over her arm.

"So, what do you think?" I got to my feet and ran into the bathroom to look in the mirror. It was almost like I was looking at someone else, 'cause it sure didn't look like me. My hair, which had always been disheveled and not very clean or pretty, was now cut in an actual hairstyle. My hair now reached a bit below my shoulders and Starlee had cut my bangs into side bangs, which showed a tad more of my green eyes- it all just looked tidier. Unfortunately, it showed a lot more of my scar, but I honestly didn't mind so much. I had gone through sixteen years of my life with that scar so I guess it wouldn't hurt if it became a tad more visible. And I honestly liked the new look, so I couldn't be too upset.

I turned to look at my sister and smiled. "It's awesome! Thanks, Star, you're awesome!" Starlee smiled widely at me and grabbed a garbage can, starting to brush the hair off my bed and into the small metal can. I grabbed my bag and pulled out the shirt I usually slept in. It was a bit big for me and just about reached my knees, so it could pass as a nightgown for now. It was way too warm to sleep in the full outfit anyway, so it was better that way.

I walked out on the small balcony, placed my arms on the railing and leaned forward, looking out over the green city. The two suns had almost set now and a soft, cool breeze blew through my slightly wet hair- it was relaxing. It was still pretty hot outside, but not quite as much as when we had arrived. Starlee came out and walked up beside me. She sighed and rested her elbow on the rail and her chin in her hand.

"It's really pretty here, isn't it? The whole city looks like it's made of gems and crystals." She smiled at me with big eyes shining in the dying sunlight.

I shrugged and smiled lightly, though I kept my eyes forward. "I suppose we could have landed on a worse planet. Though, if I have to be honest, I can't say that I'm too impressed by this one's inhabitants."

Her smile faltered and turned into a frown. She sighed and looked back over street. "Yeah… You know, I know that they warned us about this whole reptile-prejudice thing, but I had kinda hoped it wouldn't be this bad." I looked over at her, sighed and looked back out over the busy streets.

"Yeah, well now you know. Reptile prejudice has been a thing for a long, long time and it doesn't seem to be dying out anytime soon."

Starlee stared at me, her mouth slightly open in shock. "Yeah, but why?"

I turned to look at her, shrugged and returned my gaze to the street. "I don't know. People want to have someone or something to blame for the Triceratons' war against the galaxy or something." I caught her eyes and saw that it wasn't enough for her, so I rolled my eyes and glared. "Hey, you're the scholar here- I have no idea what the galaxy looked like a thousand years ago. I just know how it looks right now- and it's not a pleasant place. I can only assume that all kinds of different people assume reptiles have teamed up with the Triceratons and assume they're all the same or something." Starlee took a moment to process this, shook her head and glared up at me.

"But… but... That's not fair!" She exclaimed and looked at me both as if it was my fault that people didn't like reptiles and as if I could do something about it, but I just shrugged and kept my eyes out in the street. The beggar across the street was doing some kind of dancing performance to pull in some extra coins.

"Life's not fair. You'd better get used to it, sweetheart." I felt her eyes boring into my head, but I tried to ignore her. I was starting to have enough of Starlee and her new attitude.

I heard her groan at me and saw her turn around to walk inside again. But I watched in my periphery as she stopped in the doorway, turned back to look at me and narrowed her eyes. "You know, with that kind of dismissive, cold, know-it-all attitude, it's really no wonder you don't have any friends." I felt like someone had just punched me in the gut, but when I whipped around to face her, she had already gone back inside. I stood frozen in place and mentally debated if I should shrug her off or go inside to confront her. Donnie's words about letting anger and insults wash over you still rang in my head, but my impulsivity took over and I stomped back inside the room.

Starlee was sitting on her bed with a book in her lap and her goggles over her eyes, obviously trying to ignore me as I came in through the door. I stomped over to her bed and glared down at her with my arms folded over my chest.

"And what exactly do you mean by that, _sis_?" I put as much authority as I could into my voice and put extra emphasis on the word 'sis', to really capture her attention, but she just kept her eyes glued to the page and didn't move a muscle to acknowledge that she had heard me.

"What? I just said what was on my mind. Isn't that what you always do?" Her tone was so calm and nonchalant, as if she hadn't noticed mine. Or maybe she had and she just didn't care. I growled in anger, grabbed the book and flung it across the room.

"Hey-! What the heck? I was reading that!" Starlee scowled up at me, visibly boiling, and now I finally had her full attention. I glared right back down at her and tried to stare her down, but my usual angry look didn't seem to work on her. On the contrary- she glared up at me with about as much anger as I had. It made me feel a little uneasy and at first I had no idea where to go from here. Starlee standing up to me wasn't something I was used to. But I mentally slapped myself over the face and leaned down so I could look her in the eyes.

"Okay, Starlee, I have had just about enough of this. You and I are gonna have words about this new attitude of yours. What makes you think you can just give me the silent treatment or imply that I don't care about anything?" Starlee's cheeks started to turn purple with anger. She stood up from the bed and tried to shove her face up in mine, despite the fact that she was, like, a head and a half shorter than me. That apparently didn't discourage her at all.

"Oh, so I'm the only one with an _attitude_ , huh? What about you, Miss Warrior Princess? You walk around acting like you know everything and like I'm too stupid to understand anything about the real world! Like I'm so innocent and naïve that I don't know _anything_! How's _that_ for an 'attitude'?"

I had to press my lips together and take a deep breath so I wouldn't start yelling at her, then I had to hold myself back from screaming, "Well, you don't! You've been locked up in a house all your life! Dad's been feeding you all kinds of lies since the day you were born! Correct me if I'm wrong, but that sounds a lot like someone who doesn't know much about how the outside world works or how to handle social situations. You don't know as much as you think you do!"

Starlee narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists, her fingernails digging into the flesh of her hands to the point where they almost started to bleed. "Alright, Jhanna; I probably don't know as much as you do about how people act or how to handle certain situations- I'll give you that. But guess what? Neither do you."

I drew a small breath and pulled my face away from hers a little. But before I could give any response, she started talking again, this time with a much calmer and lower voice. "You let your anger and impulsiveness control you and you have no patience with anyone. You pretty much threatened a man who obviously wasn't in his right state of mind just because it took a bit longer than you liked. And when two idiots were being idiots you just had to give them the attention they were looking for. You let every little thing that annoys or frustrates you control your actions, and that's not a very good quality to have. I may be naïve, I may be a bit gullible- I'll totally give you that. But at least I don't resort to violence or throwing threats and insults around as soon as someone mildly inconveniences me." I took a step away from her and tried to think of something good to say, but couldn't come up with anything. Starlee narrowed her eyes at me and placed both hands on her sides.

"Jhanna, I'm so sick of you talking as you know what my life has been like. You talk about how I was Dad's favorite, how he gave me everything I could possibly want and how my life has been perfect- but it wasn't! No one has ever taken me seriously or talked to me on the same level as an adult. Dad always talked down to me, Moriah brushed me off and you treated me like an idiot. And the servants weren't that much better! Half the time it was like I was invisible and the other half they just gave me stuff so I would stop talking. And there's also the fact that I wasn't allowed outside the house and no one told me why! In fact, that's a good sentence to describe my life: no one ever told me why! Why did Mom leave? Why can't I go outside? Why does Dad treat you and Moriah differently? I don't know, 'cause no one tells me why! Maybe I don't know everything I should- but it would certainly help if someone would _tell me_ the things I need to know! I'm sick and tired of it all!"

I just stared at her and had to sit down on my bed as I took in what she said. Starlee sighed and looked down at me with tired eyes. "I don't want to fight with you, Jhanna. You're my sister and I love you, but you give me very little reason to do so. You go around saying you hate know-it-alls and people who tell you what to do, but you constantly do those exact things. You tell me to listen to you and do as you say because you know best and barely let me come with my own ideas, shooting down my ideas like they're not worth anything. I'm sorry, but it's really hard to find any redeeming qualities in you when you act like that. I just hope you don't hate me for all of this."

I sighed and rested my head in my hands. Deep down I knew Starlee was right. Hearing her words made memories flow into my mind of how I had acted over the course of this journey. Sure, Starlee had gone along with a lot of what I had said and done, but now hearing her thoughts and feelings made me see those events from her perspective. And I started to feel a little nauseous as the bad feelings came crashing down on me.

I snorted a little in an attempt to shrug off the guilt I was also feeling and looked up at my sister. "I don't hate you, Starlee. I never have and I don't think I ever could. It's just…" I trailed off and looked down at the floor. But before I did, I managed to catch a small glimpse of Starlee's face, and she looked a lot less angry and a little more remorseful. I sighed again and brushed my fingers through my bangs.

"Did I ever tell you how I got my scar?" I gestured to the blemish and Starlee shook her head.

"No, you didn't. Dad always said you had been especially disobedient when I tried to ask him. And Moriah never said anything about it when I tried to ask her." I chuckled coldly and looked away from her.

"Yeah, of course he did." I sighed and looked up at my sister again. "It's a bit of a long story, but the short and sweet answer is that I disagreed with Dad about killing innocent people just to show power, and he wanted a punishment that really stuck with me for the rest of my life. Didn't even bother to send a doctor to make sure it didn't get infected or to stitch it up." Starlee's eyes widened and her arms hung limply at her sides, her mouth wide open.

I sighed and looked away from her again, unable to maintain eye contact and keep myself composed. "I know I walk around saying I disowned him as my dad when I was a kid. But I think that he was the one who disowned me as a daughter that day. He has never once treated me like his child since he gave me this scar, and Moriah stopped talking to me all together. I was left completely alone." I didn't see Starlee's expression, but I heard her gasp softly and in the corner of my eye I saw her cover her mouth with both her hands.

Before I could do anything to stop it, a small laugh escaped my lips.

"Heh... you know, Star, you're so much like Mom was; kind, caring, compassionate. She was the only one I felt like I could talk to when I was a kid. Moriah and Dad turned their backs on me; you were too young to understand at the time. Mom was the only one who actually listened to me. But she left so quickly, saying she couldn't stay with Dad and see him become a monster. She didn't have the courage to take us with her, so she left you, me and Moriah with Dad." I sighed and moistened my lips before I started talking again.

"I guess I learned to not trust anyone because they would never stick around. Mom left, Dad disowned me and Moriah stopped talking to me entirely. You were so young at the time, I didn't want you to become just like Moriah: a puppet for Dad to control. So I tried to warn you about him, but you refused to believe me because he was our dad and he was always so disgustingly nice to you and gave you everything he never gave me. A proper education, soldiers that helped you with everything you needed, everything you ever wanted. He was as close to a caring father as he could get. You got everything you could ask for, while I never got anything, and it really burned me up to see how he treated you when he barely acknowledged me."

Starlee looked at me with big, watery eyes. Her lips were lightly pressed together and I almost expected her to cry. But instead she just tried to look me in the eyes. "You were jealous of me?" I shook my head.

"No. I- I mean, yes. Ugh, I wasn't jealous just because of how Dad treated you. I was jealous because of how you got everything I wanted to have. You were a part of a family and you had people who loved you around you. Moriah cared about you and Dad treated you like his little angel. You guys were a family, to an extent, and I wasn't a part of that. And you were blissfully unaware of how they treated me, always saying 'Daddy does it because he loves you', when I knew that wasn't true. I felt like I had no choice but try to get away from that life, 'cause I knew I wasn't welcome in that family."

A few tears fell from Starlee's eyes and she came over to my bed, sat down beside me and threw her arms around me, nuzzling her cheek into my shoulder. "I-I'm sorry. I'm s-so, _so_ sorry. I- I didn't know. I swear to the Aeons that I didn't know." She was sobbing lightly and buried her face in my oversized shirt. I looked down at her in shock. I had not expected her to react this way, but now that she did, I didn't know how to respond. I awkwardly placed my arms around her and hugged her tightly to me. Starlee shifted slightly so she could lean against my side and we just sat like that for a while.

I sighed and chuckled a little. "No, how could you know? Dad practically had you brainwashed since you were born. He was determined to make sure you didn't turn out like me and would be obedient and sweet, instead of crass and defiant." Starlee stared up at me.

"Did no one _ever_ care about you? Were you alone for all this time? I mean, I know what you said about Mom... but was there really no one else?" Her voice was barely a whisper by the time she forced the last question out, looking heartbroken. I bit my lip and looked away from her.

"Maybe. I mean, yeah, I guess there was. I mean, the Professor was a good friend to me, but I didn't get to see him that much, since Dad was hunting him. And, well…" I bit my lip, took a deep breath and then looked down at Starlee so I could meet her eyes. "Moriah and I used to be really close when we were kids. I have quite a few memories of how we used to play together, pulling pranks on the servants or going to the marketplace together. I even remember her teaching me a few things about how to use a sword. We used to do everything together, but then, one day, Dad came in to talk to her and suddenly it was like she was a completely different person. I couldn't play with her anymore; I could barely gether to acknowledge my existence. She just… shut me out, and I never knew why." I took another deep breath and looked away from Starlee again.

"I guess I've always been taught that, whether it was intentional or not, relying on people would only either result in pain or it would lead you nowhere. And since Dad suspended my education after I turned nine, everything I learned after that, I learned on the streets. I learned to do what it takes to survive, even if I had to play dirty. I learned to be manipulative, sneaky and in some cases even underhanded. It's all I've ever known, and since it was in the real world, I guess I assumed the world is just as dark, dishonest and evil as Peblak was. I hardly knew anyone that was kind to me, and the ones that were were always taken away from me or I couldn't see them that much or for very long."

I kept my eyes away from Starlee, but after about a minute I felt her hand on my arm, causing me to look back at her. She smiled lightly for a second, but then her sad frown came back again.

"So when you tried to tell me how the world worked, and how people act, you were just trying to protect me? You knew Dad was a monster and didn't really care about us and tried to warn me, didn't you?" I nodded and looked down at her with a small smile.

"My purpose in life is to protect you, Starlee- it always has been. I always wanted to make sure you knew the truth about our dad and what kind of abomination he was, so when you refused to listen that day I decided to run away- I didn't know what else to do, so I just decided to leave. It broke my heart, but I just... couldn't stay there anymore. I couldn't stay in a family that didn't love me on a planet that was constantly at war."

Starlee looked at me with pity and leaned back against my side. She lightly nuzzled her head against my chest, sparing me a glance through her eyelashes. "Then why did you come on this mission? Why did you choose to get involved in such a massive fight when it was exactly what you were trying to avoid?" I sighed and did my best to fight back tears.

"Starlee, I'm… I'm not an explorer. I have never dreamed of other worlds or wondered what they were like. Now, don't get me wrong, I love fighting and adventure and I see myself as a warrior type of girl. But I've never dreamed of seeing other planets- I never really wanted to leave D'hoonib. I just wanted to help those that needed help, just like you do. And I wanted to feel like I was a part of something, like I belonged somewhere. That's all I've _ever_ wanted. And when I learned that that kind of love didn't exist, I decided I had to get away from the pain and find a better place. If kindness and love was never genuine or real, I had to at least find a somewhat decent life somewhere else." I let out a shaky breath and a small laugh left my lips.

"But then… when I met Donnie, who actually treated me with respect and kindness, I didn't know what to think. I thought I had it all figured out; life's a game that you can't win and you have to learn how to play by the rules if you want to survive. I had never met anyone who would talk to me like that and treat me kindly, especially not a boy. All boys I had met treated me like an object or a freak, depending on how they knew me. But Donnie gave me smiles and respect and even protected me from a Triceraton when he attacked me, even when I constantly talked down to him and was nothing short of a jerk. He showed kindness and compassion, despite how nasty I was, and it turned my whole world upside-down. Everything I had learned throughout my whole life suddenly seemed wrong, or at least not as right as it had seemed when I was young. He told me of warriors that fought- not just to survive the day, but to defend those who needed it and protect people that were in danger for no reason other than that it was the right thing to do. It confused me, but when he told me of his world, I knew that I wanted to live there. I wanted to see that world and see if it was a wonderful as it sounded.

"So that day in prison when he said that his planet was in danger… I cared. I wanted to help- I didn't understand why, but I did. So I promised myself to help him and do what I could to save Earth, even if it cost me my own life. Because being around him, well… being around all of you, really, is the closest thing to a real family I've ever had."

Starlee raised her head from my chest and looked up at me. She looked a bit teary-eyed, but she smiled and hugged me tightly.

"You really care about him, don't you? Like, _really_ care about him." I nodded and smiled lightly.

"Well, yeah. He was the first guy who ever treated me like I was an equal. In fact, if anything, _he_ looked to _me_ for answers on how to get away from D'hoonib. That's something I don't think had ever happened before, and I didn't want to admit that I didn't know as much about the planet as I tried to act like I did. So yeah, we had a rocky start the first few days, but he never once treated me poorly just because. He snapped and yelled back a few times, but only because of my behavior. But as we got to know each other, I saw that he really was a kind, gentle soul with a big heart, but still had a fiery spirit and the guts to stand up to a Triceraton. Most wouldn't even dare trying. And he started to make me believe that there was something redeemable in me that wanted to come out. He started to make me believe that I was a good person." I realized how sappy it all sounded and snorted and tried to laugh it off, to try and maintain some of my pride.

"I don't know, maybe I've got my head in the clouds, but it was kinda nice to finally meet someone who actually acted like he cared about me. And he brought out the best in me."

Starlee smiled lightly and shifted away from me, placing a hand on my arm. "Jhanna, I'm sorry if I ever made you feel like you weren't loved... I really do love you. I mean, you're my big sister! I look up to you and I care about you more than you can possibly imagine. But that still doesn't mean that you don't have a lot of foibles that you need to work on." I tilted my head to the side and narrowed my eyes slightly to make her understand that I didn't know what the meant. "You know, weaknesses. Sides of yourself you need to work on." Ah, alright, I got it. I nodded and looked down at my lap.

"Yeah, I know. I guess my only defense is that no one ever really sat me down and told me that what I did was wrong. At least not in a very good way. But I'll work on it, I promise. Just… promise to try and be patient with me." Starlee smiled widely and hugged me again.

"I will... If you promise not to overreact if and when I tell you that you're going too far." I chuckled and nodded.

"Deal." We grabbed each other's hands and smiled at each other. Starlee yawned and stretched her arms over her head before she turned back to me.

"There's something I want to say. I'm sorry for how I blew up at you down in the caves before. It wasn't the right time or place to tell you those things. I guess I have a few things I need to work on, too." I shrugged and smiled.

"Yeah, but who doesn't, really? I mean, no one's perfect, right? Perfect people are boring; flaws make people more interesting, if you ask me." Starlee nodded and flashed her big, bright smile, showing off her pearly white teeth.

"Yeah, I guess that's true. But I just want to know if we're cool. Are we friends now?" I couldn't help it. I smiled widely and a little laugh managed to get out again.

"Yes, I'd like to think we are. I hate fighting with you, too, and I'd rather have you as my best friend than my enemy." She smiled back and flung her arms around my neck. This time I didn't feel as awkward when I returned her hug. We sat like that for a while until we both pulled away from each other after a few minutes. Starlee yawned again and rubbed her eyes a little. I smirked at her teasingly and gently nudged her towards her bed.

"Well, you'd better get to bed, Sis- before you fall asleep on the floor." She got up from my bed, allowing me crawl under my own covers. But just when I was about to turn off the lamp on my nightstand, I saw Starlee glance over at me again, an embarrassed smile on her face.

"Uh, Jhanna? Can I... sleep with you tonight?" I was really taken aback by her question. She wanted to sleep in my bed? That had never happened before- like, EVER. Starlee wasn't afraid of the dark, so that wasn't a problem. Maybe she felt a little clingy after everything I had told her tonight and wanted to be extra close to me. I shook my head with a fond smile and shifted over in my bed, patting the space beside me.

"Sure. Come here, Sis." Starlee smiled wider and hurried over to the bed, crawled in beside me and got as close to me as she could. I placed my arm around her and then turned off the lights.

"Goodnight, Star." She laid down with her head on my shoulder and nuzzled her face against my neck.

"Good night, Jhanna."

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 **A/N: Yay, part one is done! Finally I'm able to give some more depth to these new characters and show them from more than one side. Oh, I've tried to do that before, too, but here I'm dedicating a full chapter to character development. No enemies, no threat and no violent conflict- just people talking to each other. That's always nice, right? The next chapter will hopefully be finished very soon.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	57. Chapter 56, Conversations in the Night

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Hi! The next chapter is done and I have the next chapter where I promised more character development. Again, I have been waiting for writing this chapter for so long, and I have been thinking long and hard about what to put in here. Finally I've been able to give some more depth to these new characters and show them from more than one side. Oh, I've tried to do that before too, but her I'm dedicating a full chapter to character development. No enemies, no threat and no conflict, just people talking to each other. That's always nice, right? Well... okay there is something in here, but...**

 **I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

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Chapter 56, Conversations in the Night

It had been a little tricky to find food that we could eat and then make our way to the woods, but when we had gotten there, we managed to have a stroke of luck. We found a small cave, just big enough to fit us all and then some, which would protect us from the suns and the heat- although, by the time we had found that cave, the suns were already more than half-set and had almost disappeared under the horizon.

Traximus had started a small fire outside of the cave, Mona had procured some water for us to drink and I had gathered up some more firewood in case we might need it. Right now we were sitting around said fire, each with our own cup of water and our own food rations. Mona had found some kind of vegetarian sandwich at one merchant's stall, so I had just gotten the same thing as her so I wouldn't complicate things for us- I didn't want to slow us just because I was picky with food. Traximus had found a big chunk of nearly-raw meat, but he had the decency to sit a distance away from Mona so she wouldn't be disturbed by his food. She had shown a few signs of getting sick by just seeing meat, so whenever any one one of us were eating meat, we chose to sit further from her so she wouldn't throw up or faint.

I nibbled on my sandwich and it wasn't so bad- quite tasty, really. But my mind was still on all the bigots we had run into earlier. One of the reasons I hadn't wanted to slow us down was also because a lot of the people who owned stores had refused us service, so eventually we just had to go with whatever we could scrounge up so we could just get out of there with some sanity intact.

I was used to having people scream in fear at the sight of me- I _am_ a mutant turtle from New York City, after all. But this was all on a different level than those people from Earth- this was way more hate than just fear or panic. The most the humans would do was run away in terror- not attack us or show hatred. Sure, it had happened from time to time, like with some of Shredder's lackeys or with that jerk that turned into Spider Bytez last year. But most regular people didn't show that much hatred, and even if they did, it was understandable. Humans hadn't really grasped the idea of other beings on the same level as them yet, so to them mutants got the same reaction as aliens most likely would. We were too strange for them to understand that we could be like them in many ways.

But the people on this planet could all travel from planet to planet- there were all kinds of strange creatures running around even here! They had very little excuse to hate on all reptiles. It was pretty much on the same level of humans hating other humans just because of the color of their skin, their religion or ethnicity.

I sighed and put down the sandwich, peering at my friends. "Why do they hate us?" My voice broke the comfortable, if not a bit solemn, silence between us.

Mona looked up from her meal for a second, then shrugged and stared into the fire. "We're reptiles," she said curtly, taking another bite of her sandwich.

I shrugged slightly, put my sandwich down in the soft grass and looked over at her. "So? That's not a valid enough excuse to so completely loathe someone." I attracted Mona's eyes again, one brow raised and her mouth practically a straight line.

"Do people ever have a good enough excuse to hate?" She took a bite of her food and a sip of water, clearly ready to drop the subject.

Traximus sighed and lowered his meat into his lap, his eyes tired and his expression weary. "Hm, yes. It is sad to see how fear and hatred have become so dominant in the galaxy... And I can only imagine how much of that The Triceraton Empire is responsible for; how much _Zanramon_ is responsible for." He sighed again, much sadder this time, and took a sip of water. I nodded and added a few more sticks to the fire.

"Yeah, it's almost like back on Earth. Back there, humans hate on other humans solely for the color of their skin, their beliefs or their ethnicity… Heh, at least here the people hate on another species and not their own. I guess that's a bit… better... Only they're a lot less ashamed of it and just trumpet out their hate for everyone to see and hear without caring in the slightest." This caught both Traximus and Mona's attention and they stared at me.

"What? Humanoids on your planet hate their own species?" Mona put her sandwich aside, now a lot more invested in the subject. Traximus put his chunk of meat aside entirely- ugh, putting it on the ground like that couldn't be sanitary… but I wasn't going to say anything- and looked over at me. I nodded and shrugged, looking down at the ground.

"Well, yeah. My father always told me and my brothers that humans are afraid of what they don't understand and if we showed ourselves to them, they would most likely fear and despise us. I mean, if something as insignificant as a physical feature or thought process is enough for them to get up in arms…" I trailed off, though they could probably complete the sentence on their own. "But I still don't understand how humans can hate each other like that." Mona smiled coyly with a raised eyebrow and rested her hands in her lap.

"Ah, so they're one of _those_ species." I blinked and looked up at her quizzically.

"What do you mean, 'those species'?" I couldn't help but feel that if April and Casey were here, they'd be very offended at the way she'd phrased that.

She shrugged and smiled apologetically. "Well, I don't want to say they're _all_ like that, since your dad was a human and he raised you, so in a way you're living proof that not all humans are like that. And I'm sure your friends are great, since they're humans and they like you! ...But there _are_ species out there who are rather… eh, how shall I put this? Hmm… _superficial_. To them, appearances mean everything." Instinctively I wanted to object, but then I remembered all the humans my brothers and I had accidentally run into over the past year, and I had to admit, it did sound very close to how those humans had reacted and what they had said about us. So I shrugged and bit the inside of my lip.

"Okay, fair enough. But not _all_ humans are like that- there _are_ good ones out there." I felt the need to at least reaffirm that much.

Mona raised her hands defensively, but her calm expression stayed on her face, her gestures saying 'Calm down and let me speak'. "I didn't say that. But most of them, if not all of them, seem to have their own strange obsession with appearance. You mean to tell me they're not the same species that judge people by the color of their skin, like you said they do?" I bit my lip and looked away. Yeah, that was true- I did say that. And it did seem most humans had some form of focus on appearances and how things or people should look. Even April, who cared very little about how she looked, could stay in the bathroom for ages to brush her hair and put on the little makeup she used during school or when she went outside. We had all learned that one the hard way when she had stayed with us in the Lair after her fight with Karai. Raph and Mikey had accidentally walked in on her when she had just gotten out of the shower and was shaving her legs. Boy, was she mad at them for that. (And geez, poor Mikey was traumatized by the whole experience for days.)

Humans _did_ have a strange fixation with appearances, even if it seemed harmless and some were more affected than others. My brothers and I had seen lots of commercials and ads for clothes, makeup and other beauty-related products ever since we were kids and Splinter showed us Times Square through the sewer grates, and from the TV. And when we were allowed to go up to the surface it became even more apparent. It was as if humans had to be reminded about the ideals of beauty everyday so they would know what counted as 'real'. There were times like that that I admired April for not caving in to those ridiculous ideals. She was who she was, and that was fine with her.

And of course there was the hostility. I had seen a few instances of police brutality, or how some people would shame women because they were wearing a hijab. It was scary how people would act towards others just because they were different. Yeah, it doesn't seem as bad when it's just a few people on the street doing it, but when you remember things like World War 2 and all those Jews that were killed, or how people could get killed in some countries because they were homosexual... I sighed and rested my chin on my hand.

"Yeah, it's a screwed up world we live in." I was mostly saying it to myself, but Mona must've heard it anyway, because she sighed too and looked over at me with sympathetic and wise eyes.

"Yeah, well, every world is screwed up." I looked up at her, my eyebrow raised and my hand removed from my chin.

"Everyone? Every single one of them? That seems unlikely."

She shrugged and her lips were pressed together for a second before she started talking again. "There's no such thing as a perfect world, Donnie- you as a scientist should know that. Every world has problems- bad leaders or a screwed up view of the rest of their world or the galaxy." She paused for minute, took a shaky breath, looked up at me and suddenly she seemed a bit more vulnerable. "My… my people are afraid of evolving."

I looked up in surprise and tilted my head. Sure, the Salamandarians had seemed very cautious and on their guard most of the time we had been there, but that seemed a bit much. "Really?" Mona bit her lower lip and shrugged awkwardly.

"Well, maybe not _evolving_ , but they're afraid of change or taking chances. My grandfather, as well as every chief that came before him, has forbidden technology on our planet and uses the story of the Wendigo as a means to scare everyone away from using it and to make them believe that technology is evil- because that's what they believe. They just want us to stay in our bubble and pretend nothing is wrong with our way of living and that we don't need to adapt. Expect for now, with the Triceratons at their throats and all that." Her voice got weaker and weaker as she kept talking, 'til it eventually cracked and she stopped herself- from the look on her face it was so she wouldn't start crying.

I stared at her and realized that, suddenly, I understood her a lot more. Mona Lisa had always been cautious and careful with everything she said and did, and now hearing how her whole planet thought and did everything almost the same way, it was more than likely they who had given her that mindset. Not that it was a wrong mindset- it was good to look out for danger and not rush blindly into things or do things without thinking. But Mona almost never seemed to take any chances at all. Back at the prison, she had been more than happy to stay there for the rest of her life because she didn't want to die and was too afraid to try and take her own freedom. And given how the Triceratons had treated her in that prison, that mindset seemed to grow stronger and she most likely did everything they told her just so she could stay alive. That was no way to live for anyone- too afraid to try anything new, constantly being told that change is bad.

She sighed heavily and wrapped her arms around her knees. "I've seen people die all my life, and more often than not it's been people close to me. I saw my parents die right before my eyes, I saw the few friends I had at the prison die, and I saw innocent people die for no good reason. And eventually I was left alone inside those cold walls, waiting for the day I would meet my own demise." She looked from the fire up at the darkening sky and the few twinkling stars that started to show.

I moved closer to her and placed an arm around her shoulders. "I'm so sorry, Mona. I had no idea." She blinked at me in surprise and we locked eyes for minute or so. Then she turned back to the fire and shrugged lightly.

"How could you have known? I never told anyone about my planet's fear, or how prison life treated me." I shrugged and tried to smile awkwardly, despite how our conversation was nothing to smile at.

"Yeah, but I guess I judged you too quickly back at the prison and right after we had escaped. I never considered what your life might have been like behind bars."

Mona glanced up at me, her sad frown turning into an annoyed and tired stare. "Yeah, I noticed." She shrugged my arm off her shoulders but she did throw me a small smile before she shifted away from me a bit. I sighed and leaned myself back, resting my weight on my hands.

"Yeah, I guess I was being a bit of an idiot. But I suppose there are idiots on every planet. I mean, look at Zanramon and his people." Traximus, who had been quiet for a while now, looked up from his food and looked at me with narrowed eyes and a stern face.

"Do not speak of what you don't understand, Donatello. " I looked up at him and was surprised to see Traximus against me. He of all people should know how tyrannical the Triceraton Empire was. I sat up straight again and stared at him disbelievingly.

"But Traximus, those Triceratons are evil, and Zanramon is tyrant who cares nothing for the people he kills or scares as long he gets what he wants- you said it yourself! I mean, he's currently out there trying to finish a war his ancestors started years ago and he has absolutely nothing to gain from destroying Earth except watching the Kraang die! It won't bring back their planet, it won't bring back the lives lost in that war, it won't bring back anything that they've lost. Zanramon is nothing but a resentful, egotistical jerk- what else is there to understand?" Traximus narrowed his eyes at me and moved closer to the fire.

"So you are saying that all Triceratons are evil? That they are all the same and all want destruction for everything in their way? And that all of them are like Zanramon?" I realized what I'd said and nervously bit my lip. Way to go, Donnie, you've just offended one of your friends by doing the same thing all the aliens back in the city had done. Way to go, dude. Foot - mouth.

"I- I mean, not that you're like them! You're different! You want to fight for the right reasons-" Traximus interrupted me and rested his chin in his hand with a slightly amused smile on his face- a _very_ , _VERY_ _small_ smile.

"And you think no other Triceratons do too?"

I felt myself starting to sweat and my eyes flickered from side to side. This was not going the way I had hoped the discussion would go. "Um… no? I- I mean, yes! I- I mean… I dunno?" I shrugged and tried to smile, but I'm sure it looked more like a grimace. Traximus lost his smile and sighed heavily.

"Donatello, this may be hard for you to fully understand, but just because the Triceratons' leader is a tyrant, that doesn't make the whole Triceraton race evil. I had several friends who shared my beliefs back when I was in the Army, but they were too scared of the possible punishments they would receive if they tried to fight back. And I now realize that it was foolish of me to try and do just that all alone. But my point is: a leader can lead people, but he can't decide what they believe or what they think of him."

I looked down at the ground, ashamed of myself. He was right; it would be stupid to believe whole a race of people was exactly like their leader. I sighed and looked up at Traximus, and tried my best to look truly remorseful. "I'm sorry, Traximus. You're right- that was disrespectful of me."

He gave me a dry smile and took a sip of his water. "Though I can understand why you choose to see the Triceratons that way... they have not exactly been treating you and your friends well... But you must understand that leaders, as well as people, usually have motivation and that the world is not as black and white as people would like to believe. Even Zanramon is deeper than you might believe." Mona looked at him with a raised brow, her lips forming a straight line.

"Hang on, don't come saying that we should feel sorry for that guy. He may have reasons for his actions that might be understandable, but don't expect us to be sympathetic."

Traximus looked over at her with sympathetic yet stern eyes. "I did not say you should, but you should understand that he has reasons for doing what he's doing." That was all he said and he turned back to his food. But both Mona and I could see that he had a story he wanted to tell us and was just waiting for us to take the bait- apparently no race was above using the 'stubborn old storyteller' move. He even looked up at us a few times, as if he could read our thoughts or see what we were thinking. I rolled my eyes, sat up tailor style and rested my chin in my hands.

"Okay, Traximus, I'll bite: what are his reasons for obsessing over this thousand-year-old vendetta?" I'm sure I sounded annoyed and bored, but I didn't care. If Traximus had something to get off his chest, then he should just say it, even if it wasn't something I was eager to hear. Mona rolled her eyes with a quiet groan, but turned her attention towards Traximus too, making it clear she was listening.

Traximus smirked coyly at us, put aside his meat again and cleared his throat. "As you both know, we lost our planet to the Kraang a long, long time ago. The story of how it happened has been passed down through generations so that it would never be forgotten and we would all see the evil of the Kraang and what they had done to us. But that's not too important right now.

"Zanramon was a very different Triceraton from the moment he hatched- in fact, some say even the egg he broke out of looked very strange. As a hatchling, he looked nothing at all like how a 'real' Triceraton should look. He was small, fat, and showed no capability as a fighter or a warrior as he got older. Even his intelligence was a shortcoming on many different stances, making many believe he had been born… well, wrong.

"Everyone knew who Zanramon was and everyone treated him with resentment, mocking disdain, or plain cruelty. Even his own parents did not want anything to do with him and quite literally tossed him into the garbage chute as a very young child. He was saved by a merciful stranger who raised him as his own son, but his mind had already been poisoned by the scorn and hatred that followed him everywhere he went. His father tried his best to be there for him, but it was not enough. He looked like a monster, so they treated him like a monster. And that's what he eventually became."

During this whole story both Mona and I had been quiet as mice and listened attentively to every single word Traximus said. And, as much as I hated to admit it, I started to feel a little sorry for Zanramon. To be brought up in a world where everyone seemed to despise him- even his own parents? Not at all weird that one person showing him kindness wasn't enough. Mona, who had every reason not to feel sorry for him, looked at Traximus with her mouth hanging open and her eyes the size of dinner plates. Traximus looked really torn up while telling us this story, suddenly not seeming as eager to continue on with it as before. But maybe this was something he needed to get off his chest rather than a good story that he wanted to share with us.

"Zanramon let all the cruelties and hatred break him. He became twisted and started to crave ways to prove them all wrong and make them sorry for how they had treated him his whole life, make them treat him with the respect and adoration he felt he deserved. And one day, he figured out how. You see, Triceratons choose their leaders based on a list of tests that would determine who would best qualify. And somehow, Zanramon used his intelligence to win the tests. In the end, he won mostly by default, but he had managed to find ways to trick or manipulate the other candidates into losing, for they had all made the critical mistake that no warrior can afford to make: they underestimated their opponent. Zanramon was no fool- in fact it turned out he was quite intelligent; he only learned slower and in different ways from the average Triceraton. And he's also got quite the silver tongue and has a knack for manipulation. He figured out his opponents' weaknesses and singled them out in ways that, in the end, made him Prime Leader of the Triceraton Empire, to everyone's horror and disgust. But even with most powerful role in the Triceraton Empire, it wasn't enough for him. He wanted more.

"He promised his subjects he would bring honor back to the Triceraton Empire by finding the Kraang and destroying them with the Heart of Darkness, thus finally accomplishing what no other Prime Leader had ever done at that point. That gave him all the respect and adoration he ever could have asked for. But ask any Triceraton and he will tell you that that respect and adoration is shallow and every single Triceraton despises having to take orders from him. ...Zanramon knows this, but he acts like he doesn't. So I can only assume that he's more than desperate to find the pieces of the Black Hole Generator and destroy the Kraang, if only to earn his subjects' true respect."

For the longest time I had no idea what to say. I licked my lips and wracked my brain, trying to think of something, anything, to say, but I couldn't think of anything that sounded good. Mona looked somewhere between shocked and distraught, but it did not at all look like she felt sorry for the guy.

"His own parents threw him away? They left a small child to fend for himself and didn't think twice? That's horrible!" Traximus sighed and nodded sadly.

"Yes, it is not a happy story, and I suppose if there's anything I want you to understand and learn from this story, it is that everyone- even the most despicable and horrible people you can imagine- has a story to tell. And the more we try to understand everyone, especially those despicable people, the more we can understand why they do things they do." Mona sneered at him and her nose wrinkled in disgust.

"That may be, Traximus, but that doesn't excuse any of the horrible things he's done! Who cares if he has a tragic backstory? He is responsible for thousands of deaths and for making the Triceratons a feared and loathed race." Traximus nodded and smiled wryly at her.

"No, that is true. No backstory justifies terrible deeds, actions or decisions. But we still have no right to judge others if we don't have all the facts. And if you don't know the full story, your enemy may very well use that against you. Never forget that, Mona Lisa." He looked over at me. "That includes you too, Donatello." I felt a little unnerved by the look in his eyes, but still looked straight into his eyes as I nodded at him and tried to act like it hadn't bothered me.

"Okay, I hear you, Trax. But are you sure you're okay? You seem a little out of sorts." Traximus looked away for a second, and it looked like he was trying to bury old memories. But then he took a deep breath and looked back at us.

"I… I am just upset at how someone could treat a child so cruelly, that's all. And I'm scared to see how others' nastiness can turn someone into a monster. The scariest monsters are the ones that lurk within our souls, because they are part of us. And no matter how hard you try, you can never really get rid of the monsters inside you… You can never really kill a monster." What? You can never really kill a monster... what was _that_ supposed to mean? Humans had killed plenty of monsters and I can only assume other alien species had done the same, so how come Traximus said it was impossible? I tilted my head and narrowed my eyes at him.

"What do you mean? How can you not kill a monster?" Traximus looked at me sadly and sighed again.

"A true monster never truly dies. His spirit and evil lives on through others, just as the most wonderful and loving people live in us. If you kill a monster in cold blood, he doesn't really die. He becomes part of you, and you become a monster yourself, and he so he lives on through you. And this world really doesn't need any more monsters." He suddenly looked me straight in the eyes, almost staring me down, and his eyes were both frantic and dead serious.

"You must never forget that, Donatello. I know you wish to become a strong warrior and great leader, but never lose sight of who you are while doing that. You can work as hard as you have to and do what you have to do in order to succeed with your goals, but never, ever, lose sight of who you really are. Always keep your morals and ethics in your mind and your loved ones in your heart, and remember where you have your roots. That's what's really important, and you must never forget that. Promise me that, Donatello." I was really taken aback by Traximus' sudden shift in attitude and how serious he suddenly sounded and for a while I just stared at him. I slowly started to nod and tried to smile even though it felt wrong at the moment.

"Okay, Traximus, I promise you." He nodded, seemingly satisfied, and turned back to his food. The silence that followed was nothing short of awkward and no one seemed able to think of anything good to say. The sky got darker and darker and the stars started to show up in the night sky. Though the moon was nowhere to be found, so it only lit up a little of our little camp. Especially as the fire started to shrink a little as the flames started to die. Mona got to her feet, said she was gonna go and find more firewood, and didn't wait for any response before she walked into the forest. Traximus picked up his meat and started to eat again and looked into the fire. I considered the sandwich I still had to eat, but suddenly it didn't seem as appetizing anymore. I sighed and stood up and walked away into the woods as well.

"I'll be right back," I muttered to Traximus and I heard him call "Don't walk too far away from the fire!" after me. I nodded absentmindedly and kept walking.

After a while I came out of the forest and to a big, flat cliff that hung out over the ground, and from the edge you could see a beautiful view of the forest, with green woods, rivers, and in the distance, an ocean. I sat down on the cliff, wrapped my arms around one of my legs and let the other dangle over the edge, rested my chin on my knee and let out a heavy sigh. I looked up at the sky. The stars were out, but I still didn't see any signs of any moon. Maybe this planet didn't have one. But the stars were kind of a comforting sight right now. They seemed to look down on me and smile reassuringly at me, saying that everything was going to be fine.

Still, as comforting as that was, I didn't feel so reassured or comforted. So much had happened, and while I'd like to think I was a bit more at home on the ship and with my friends, I still felt completely out of place here, in this part of the galaxy. I knew it was true, what Traximus had said: that there were so many shades of grey in between everything and everyone who were involved in this mess. This wasn't a math equation that always stayed the same, where there were rules you learned to follow in order to understand it all. This was closer to when I had to figure out how Kraang tech worked, or when I had to create the retromutagen. I had to break the rules of everything I had learned in order to understand what I was dealing with, and see things in a completely different way. And for the first time in my life, I didn't know the answer to every question that came my way. I didn't know best this time, and that was kinda unsettling. I was used to knowing everything, or at least having the means to find out the answers.

I sighed again and looked down at the ground. It was a long way down, probably twenty feet or so, and just below me there were flowers growing in the moss and the grass. I reached down and picked one of them and looked over it carefully. It had light pinkish-purplish petals, a thin, frail stem and the scent was sweet and somewhat intoxicating. It almost made me a little dizzy when I smelled it, so I pulled it away from my nose before I could faint. I gently pulled at the petals, absentmindedly pulling them off and letting them fall to the ground beside me in a small pink-purple heap. But I didn't pay much attention to that right now.

"How am I gonna finish this mission? I know we have the first piece of the Black Hole Generator, but there're still so many questions, so many unknown variables that we haven't even considered yet. And Zanramon is obviously no idiot, so he'll make it really hard for us." I groaned and threw the now naked stem away, resting my head in my hands. The stars' twinkling made me look up again and one especially bright star caught my attention. I don't exactly know why I stared up at it, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from it. It seemed slightly bigger than the other stars around it. Maybe it was a planet that only looked like a star from here? Then I saw it wasn't a star, but a ship that was flying across the sky before disappearing over the forest. I sighed again and found myself alone with my thoughts once more- this time finding myself going back to the Aeons.

Mona had once said something about how the Aeons were watching over me and hadn't given up on me, despite everything I had been put through up to this point, and if anything, things looked much brighter now than they had back on Filione. But I was still worried about how things would go. My hand found its way back up to my amulet and clutched it as tightly as possible. I didn't quite understand why it felt so comforting, but once I gripped the metallic tracking device, I had a hard time letting go.

My thoughts were filled with thoughts and questions about the Aeons. Were they real? And if they were, were they watching over my friends and I? Were they on our side?

I bit my lip, looked over my shoulder and then back up at the star. I took a deep breath and with great effort managed to tear my grip off the amulet, clasping my hands.

"Great Aeons, please hear my prayer. I'm still not sure if you exist, or if you're on our side in this mess, but if you are, I can only ask for you to help and guide me through it all. Out of all my friends, I know the least about what we're dealing with and I have no idea how to lead my friends through this because of it. And I know that there are so many questions that I still don't have the answers for. But if I leave all my questions and worries, too, will you give me the answers when I need them? If I put my faith and trust in you, will you be there for me when I need you?"

The silence that followed was no surprise, since I hadn't expected a spirit to actually answer me, but it still felt like they were waiting for me to say something special. I sighed again and licked my lips.

"I realize now that there are things I don't know in this world, and that I'm the underdog right now. But maybe that's part of why I'm here- to understand that not knowing is a part of life. And that it's okay to not always know every answer to every question. I've tried to do the right thing up until now, and maybe the right thing to do now is to believe in you. I've heard you protect life, so if you can possibly help me save everyone on my planet, I will be forever in your debt."

Another thought that had plagued me resurfaced then, and with an unsteady and quiet voice I continued, "And I know… I know I should have died in that portal. I know I shouldn't be alive right now. But I am, and I'm trying to do what's right- is this the purpose I'm supposed to fulfill? Is there a reason for you sparing my life? Because if there is… could you please tell me? I want to save my planet, my people, but… is that my only purpose now? Am I even supposed to be going down this path? I'm so… conflicted. ...Please, if you are really there and hear my prayer, then please give me a sign."

I waited a couple of minutes to see if they would answer me, but nothing came. I sighed dejectedly and was about to stand up and go back to the camp, but just as I got to my feet, the sky suddenly lit up. I jumped in surprise and watched as the huge bright moon appeared from behind some clouds. This planet's moon was, like, ten times bigger than the one back on Earth, and it shone almost as brightly as the two suns had earlier. And as I stared up at the moon, a breeze suddenly blew through the forest and seemed to circle around me, worming around me like a snake. As it did, the petals from the flowers, that were still lying on the ground beside me, started spiraling around me from my feet all the way up to my head before floating away over the cliff and up into the sky until they were out of sight.

I stared out into the distance after the flower petals, and then up to the big moon that was bathing the whole forest in silver and smiling down at me. My thoughts were running around like crazy in my head and I tried to find a good explanation for what had just happened. It couldn't have been a coincidence that those exact things had just happened, but had it been the sign I had been asking for? It had to be... but what if it wasn't? Would I be considered crazy if I believed in them after something like this had happened?

I shrugged and smiled. Maybe it was crazy, but I still took it as a sign. I smiled widely up at the moon and bowed my head slightly.

"Thank you." That was all I could think of saying before I turned around and started to run back to the camp. Now with the moon out, it was a lot brighter in the forest and I could find my way a lot easier.

* * *

It was already dark by the time I landed on Ypsagon, although the massive moon was out by now, so it wasn't completely dark outside. But I still felt a bit unprotected right now, out in the open and with no men behind me. They had all gone back to D'hoonib, though very reluctantly, with the belief that it had been my father's orders. It was probably a very stupid idea, but it would have been even worse if they had seen or heard me make plans with a Triceraton of all beings.

So here I was, outside my ship, waiting for Zog to show up, all alone. He had told me to wait here so he could finish the first part of his plan. And I saw his ship a small distance away, so I knew he was nearby. I sighed and pulled my thin jacket tighter around me. Considering how hot it was here during the day, it was a bit surprising how cold this area could get during the night. Though I had lit a small fire, covered by both ships so we wouldn't get any unwanted attention, and it did help a little. But I had been waiting for almost an hour now, and the stupid lizard was taking way too long in my opinion. In this time I could just have looked through the woods and found them all by now.

"This had better be worth it," I muttered to myself and looked out over the woods to spot the Triceraton. Eventually, he came out of the forest with something big and lumpy thrown over his shoulder, something that was squirming and squealing crazily, trying to get away from the Triceraton's hold on it. Zog didn't seem to notice, though- he just smirked at me and came up to the fire.

"Well, well, well! Look at that. She actually showed up!" I narrowed my eyes and folded my arms over my chest.

"I hope you have a good plan, Zog. You have no idea what kind of risk I'm taking here, making plans with the likes of you." He lost his smirk and narrowed his own eyes at me. He stopped a few feet in front of the fire and dropped the poor animal he had over his shoulders in front of his feet, placing one foot on it so it couldn't flee from him.

"And you think I don't? You _do_ know I am risking death by doing this, right?" I rolled my eyes and took a few steps closer to the fire, trying not to look at the poor beast on the ground.

"Just get on with it- what's your big plan, anyway?" He smirked again and pointed to his ship.

"Grab the bucket over by my ship and I'll show you." I glared up at him but ran over to his ship and grabbed the big tin bucket right outside the ship. I placed it by his feet and he pulled a knife from his belt. He picked up the animal by its neck- and it was still squealing in pure terror and kicking its legs to try and get away- and kneeled down beside it. In the light of the fire I looked over the animal and noted it was an Ugg, a male by the look of its size and the horns on top of its snout. It was also incredibly fat and seemed to weigh a ton, but it wasn't much of surprise that Zog had managed to carry it. Its eyes were wide with terror and its squealing made something turn inside me- I almost wanted to rip him out of Zog's grip and save him, but held myself back and pressed my lips together so I wouldn't say anything stupid.

Zog pressed the Ugg's head to the ground with one hand and put the other one across his body to try and keep him still. He looked up at me with a sick gleam in his eyes. "Grab my axe; kill him." My eyes widened, I took a step back and I suddenly felt incredibly nauseous. I couldn't make myself move, but eventually I got my tongue to cooperate and licked my lips.

"W-what…?"

He rolled his eyes and groaned. "Look, I have to keep the beast still, and we can't use it if it's still alive!" I glared at him and clenched my fists.

"Well, then why didn't you just kill him before you brought him here?!" He grinned a sick grin and pushed it harder against the ground.

"Where's the fun in that?" I looked at him and for a second I could see that he had an incredibly sick mind, even for a Triceraton. I took a deep and shaky breath, grabbed the axe he had placed on the ground, and raised it over my head. The poor Ugg saw the axe and started thrashing around even more, squealing higher and louder. I gritted my teeth, gripped the axe harder, closed my eyes and swung it as hard as I could. I heard a squeal of agony and fear before it went silent. I slowly opened my eyes and looked down. The Ugg had a jagged, bloody wound on its head and was now completely still. I dropped the now bloody axe and took a few steps back, feeling sick to my stomach. But Zog just smirked, grabbed the animal by the head and placed it close to the bucket, picking up the knife he had dropped on the ground.

"Good job, Princess. And now, to get the good stuff." He placed the edge of the sword against the Ugg's neck and sliced a deep cut across the throat. A fountain of dark red blood started to pour out of the wound and the bucket was quickly filled. I felt bile rise in the back of my throat, so I turned away from the scene and covered my mouth, trying to take deep breaths so I wouldn't lose my dinner.

'Seriously, what's wrong with you, Moriah? You've killed people before- what makes you so sick over this?' I straightened out my back again, trying to breathe before I turned back to Zog, who had just thrown the body of the Ugg aside and picked up the full, heavy bucket.

"Now, here's the plan. You're going to stalk the group tomorrow, find out where they are and then contact me about their position. When we have them trapped in a good spot, you will take this," he lifted the bucket a little, "and pour it over that reptilian brat. And then, while he is distracted, you attack and kill him! Then, you are free to grab your sisters and that robot and leave the planet, if you wish. While they are distracted, I will go onboard the ship and take the piece of the Heart of Darkness back. Both of us will win and we can leave the planet, never once telling anyone about how we worked together." I stared at the bucket, then up at him.

"Why do I have to be the one to find him and pour blood all over him?! And why does it have to be blood, anyway? Why not anything else?" He walked up to me, placed the bucket by my feet and leaned down to my level, staring me in the eyes.

"Because, one, out of the two of us, you are the one who will look the least conspicuous. No one will suspect a young woman walking around as being a murderous assassin. And two, because it's much more effective if it's blood. If it were just ice-cold water or punch, it would just be shocking and disgusting and not shocking, disgusting and _terrifying_. Also, blood is thick and will make it harder to get out of his eyes in time. Plus, you can't deny that he deserves this for all the trouble he's caused us. He needs to be knocked down a few pegs, remember what kind of scum he is before he dies. Now, I have to leave." He threw me something black and small before he turned to his ship. "Contact me when you've found them. Then I'll know to stay close to their ship." He walked up the ramp to his ship and was about to close the doors, when he seemed to remember something and turned back to me.

"Oh, and I would keep the bucket cold if I were you. It will start to smell if it doesn't. Good luck, Princess." That was all he said before he turned around again, the doors closing behind him, and he flew away.

I was left on the ground with a bucket full of blood, an Ugg carcass close by and a dying fire in front of me. Was I really ready to do this? Yeah, that reptilian freak had been huge thorn in my side for a long time now, but this seemed a bit extreme, even for me. I had been trained to kill others, but this seemed a bit overboard. But I needed to bring my sisters and the Fugitoid home to D'hoonib, or I would be banished forever.

I sighed heavily and hung my head. I had no choice. I had to do it.

I looked down at the blood, took a shaky breath, took the bucket and walked back inside my ship. I needed to find a good place to park it before midnight.

* * *

 **A/N: Okay, so I didn't manage to fit as much character development in this chapter as I had hoped, but there's still something happening here. And we finally catch up on Moriah and Zog and see what they're up to. I actually started the scene with the Ugg already dead, but changed it to make it more ominous and disturbing. And I am strongly against animal cruelty, so I hope you're happy with it.**

 **Anyway, we get some forshadowing of what's to come in the future, and what will happen to Donnie and Co. And if anyone of you have seen or read Carrie, well, it's not gonna be pretty… Hopefully you don't, so it will be a bit more of a surprise.**

 **Side note, The Ugg is inspired by the Babirusa, in case somebody is interested or gives a damn. And yes, the Babirusa is a real animal, not a fantasy creature. With a very, _very_ strange name...**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**


	58. Chapter 57, An Answered Prayer

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Hello! So, I'm going on some interviews about a job this week and in two weeks. Hopefully I'll have some luck, but the reason I'm saying this is because at this point I'm trying to get a job. So I don't know how this will affect my writing or when I'll be able to update. I'm just saying.**

 **Anyway, I'm giving you a new chapter and I hope you'll like what I'm bringing you. We might see a familiar face from the past. I hope you'll like this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

* * *

Chapter 57, An Answered Prayer

When I said I was going to gather more firewood, I was lying. Okay, I had gathered up some more dry sticks to put on the fire, but not because we needed it. We had plenty of kindling left, so it wasn't really necessary, but I really needed some time away from the guys and some time for myself. Traximus' story and everything we had discussed up until now had made the wheels in my head turn at 100 miles per hour. I had felt a little uneasy revealing my backstory at the prison and Donnie's support had made me feel even more uneasy, but also a bit comforted. But it still didn't change the fact that I still felt scared and unsure about what I was doing.

I sighed and picked up another stick, placing it under my arm. The last few months had turned my whole world upside down and I still had no idea if I was doing the right thing. I had gotten myself involved in a war that didn't concern me at all and if I made the wrong move, it could affect my planet, too. But if the Triceratons won, what's to say they won't try to destroy other worlds after Earth? And they were still tyrants and needed to be stopped before they went over the line. I mean, okay, they already kinda _had_ gone over the line- but I meant even _further_ over the line. But to what lengths was I willing to go to make sure Earth wasn't destroyed? I had put my life on the line for people I didn't know, had no connections to whatsoever, and would most likely leave after the mission was accomplished. If it _was_ accomplished, that is.

Then again, how could I just stand by and let innocent people die when they had done nothing wrong? The Triceratons wanted to destroy Earth because the Kraang were hiding there; they didn't care about the people who got killed in the process. No matter how small-minded they seemed to be, they didn't deserve to die because of a vendetta between two alien races that didn't care about them at all.

I sighed again and sat down on a rock. The sticks I had gathered up were lying in a pile at my feet and I was resting my face in my hands. I was feeling very conflicted and all my instincts were yelling at me to fly back to Filione and stay safe within our little bubble, like the Salamandarians had done for hundreds of years. But something inside of me was telling me to stand up and be strong for a change.

Much as I tried to not give into it, it was natural for me to play it safe and never take any risks; stay in my comfort zone. I had also made it a habit to never do anything before I knew what the best tactic was and I rarely acted on instinct, except for when that instinct told me to play it safe. But now I was in a situation where I couldn't really do that. I was starting to do better, Jhanna was respecting me enough to not make fun of every single thing I said and did, and Starlee had really taken a liking towards me for some reason. Maybe she thought it was nice to talk to someone who didn't act like an entitled jerk all the time. She had both me and Donnie to talk to when Jhanna didn't suffice.

Except for Starlee, I can't say I was too friendly with anyone else on the ship. Jhanna was acting better now, ever since Zerij when she got yelled at and the crud beaten out of her. But I still had problems with her attitude and her anger issues, even though she was loyal and had her moments of being kinda nice. I had respect for Traximus and The Professor- Traximus in particular, since I had seen him fight ever since I arrived at the prison. He had been the only one to look out for me that hadn't died. But Traximus had looked out for a lot of people, so it hadn't meant that much. And he had been in a severe state of depression since the day he had wound up in prison. The Professor just seemed a bit scatterbrained for a scientist, but he meant well, I guess. And Donnie…

Donnie was certainly special. Yeah, he was nice and all, but there had been a few instances where I wondered what he was hiding. He acted like he was way out of his element and that it should be someone else in his place. But I still was unsure what to think of him. Sure, he was kind, caring and compassionate and had more than enough intelligence to be able to get by. But he was also irrational, reckless and he was still a bit naïve. Not to mention that he was picking fights with the worst possible alien race in the galaxy and we were on the verge of a gigantic war all because of him not thinking before speaking. -Yeah, I know it was an accident, but still.

I looked up at the moon as it appeared on the dark sky and started to think back to the Aeons. The Aeons had been the only ones giving me hope during my time in prison and I had a feeling that they had brought Donnie and Jhanna to the prison to save us all from the Triceratons. They were brought to us for a reason. And they most likely knew how Filione was doing when I came back home and wanted me to find a way to stop the Triceratons from ruling the galaxy. And since I was so deadset on staying out of the war, they had to convince me through other means.

Everything happened for a reason, and I was sure I was on this mission for a reason. If the Aeons had sent me on this mission, had made sure these exact events had happened, then I was sure the reason would reveal itself with time. And if there's one thing I am, it's patient, and if there was a reason I was still alive after so many had died, after I had seen almost all my loved ones die, then I would wait until I knew why. I had spent almost ten years in that prison and by all logic I should be dead now. But I wasn't, and I was sure there was a reason for that. I was a part of something bigger than myself now, and I wanted to see how it all played out. What part I would play in all of this.

"The Aeons kept you alive for a reason, Mona, and you are also _here_ for a reason. You'll find out what that reason is eventually- just wait and see," I muttered to myself and gathered the sticks in my arms again. Time to head back to the others before they started to worry.

* * *

After Mona Lisa came back with more firewood and Donatello came back from his little walk, we kept sitting around our fire and talked about things. It varied from how we thought the food had tasted, to how we saw the prejudice on this planet. On that specific subject we could all agree that it didn't feel very well to be yelled at or for people to show fear or hatred towards us. Mona Lisa didn't say much; she just sat with her arms wrapped around her legs and her chin on her knees. Her eyes were locked on the fire, but it seemed like they were in a completely different world. Donatello seemed to be in a better mood now and talked, smiled and laughed a lot more, which was a welcomed change of pace. One could only wonder what had happened while he had taken that walk.

But the conversations eventually got quieter and slower as the night went on and eventually Donatello and Mona Lisa started to yawn and their eyes drooped more and more. I smiled softly at them and threw a few more sticks into the fire.

"I believe it's time for you to sleep. It's late and you will need all the energy you can get for tomorrow." Donatello shook his head despite how he was yawning so much that it looked like his jaw might dislocate itself. Mona rubbed her hands over her eyes.

"No, no, we're fine. We can stay up just as long as you can." I shook my head and gently led them towards the cave, where we had already prepared for the night with leaves covered with heather and grass for bedding and pillows. They didn't put up much resistance and just let me lie them down on their beds without any complaints. "Sleep now- I will follow you shortly. I just want to make sure the fire will survive the night." If they heard me, they didn't show it. But I highly doubt that they did, as they fell asleep the second their heads touched the pillows.

I walked back to the fire and sat down, making sure it was still burning strongly. The night was surprisingly cold, considering how warm it had been earlier today, so I wanted to make sure no one would be cold during the rest of the night. But there was still quite a bit of firewood, so there was no risk that would happen. And I was used to being awake for several days on end. It was a part of my training as a warrior in the Triceraton army. So, should the need rise, I could stay awake for the whole night.

I placed a few more dry sticks on the fire and turned to look over my shoulder at the children sleeping a few feet behind me. Mona Lisa had her back to me and her breathing was soft. Donatello rested his head on his arm and a soft whistle was heard from the gap between his teeth. They looked so innocent and childlike while asleep. Both of them were quite mature and levelheaded for their age, and sometimes I had to remind myself that they were, in fact, children. And I also had to remind myself of the war that would most likely start because of this mission. A war is no place for children, no matter their age or how mature they are.

Donatello in particular should not be a part of this. He was just a boy, a child; he should not be faced with the responsibility of the fate of his planet and his people. It shouldn't be happening to anyone at all, but it should definitely not happen to a boy his age. Whereas Mona Lisa, Jhanna and Starlee had agreed to help him, and they were just as much children as he was, they did not shoulder the same responsibility that he did. How many times during one day did he question himself on whether he could lead his team to success? How many nightmares did he have of seeing his world destroyed?

I sighed. He should not be here. He should be at home with his family and not even be aware of what a Triceraton was. None of the things that had happened to him should have happened. I would have gladly stayed the rest of my life in that prison if it made sure that he wouldn't be here in the first place.

Then again, if he had not shown up on D'hoonib that fateful day, chances are all our lives would be nothing short of miserable. Professor Honeycutt would still be chased by his own people, Jhanna would still be a prisoner on her own planet, Starlee would be blissfully unaware of what the Federation truly was and Mona Lisa and I would still be prisoners of the Triceratons. So, in a way, he had improved our lives and given us a choice on whether we wanted to help him or pursue our own happiness. And, I have to admit, while I had not known him for very long, I was starting to grow fond of the boy. He had a warrior's spirit somewhere deep inside of him, I was sure of it. But I also admired his kind heart and compassionate nature. While it was clear he had the potential to be an amazing warrior, it was also clear that was not his biggest desire. He was a warrior in a protective sense; he fought to protect loved ones and not because he wanted to. And sadly there were not many warriors who fought for the right ideals anymore.

I looked up at the sky. During my imprisonment I had given up hope that I would ever see the light of day again, and had begun thinking that I would be fighting inside that arena until the day I died. I had given up hope that the Aeons would answer my prayers or that anyone would come to break us all free. But then came Donatello, as if sent from the Aeons themselves, who tried to convince us to fight back and take back our lives instead of letting the Triceratons rule over us. And now, my faith was starting to be restored once again. If anyone could watch over that boy and make sure he made it back home again, it was the Aeons. He had made it this far and was still intact physically and mentally, but would need someone to watch over him and make sure he didn't lose his way along this journey.

"Great Aeons, hear my prayer. You have to watch over this boy; he will need all the help he can get on this journey. I know he doesn't say it, but he's scared of what's to come and he will need support." I paused and turned to look back at him again. He shifted slightly in his sleep and removed his arm from his head, placing his hand under his cheek instead, letting out a small sigh before the whistling commenced once more.

A soft smile graced my lips and I turned back to the fire again. "I am doing what I can to help him. I will teach him everything I know and give him all the advice I can, and I will try to be a good mentor for him, but I don't think that will be enough. He's still young and needs someone to help him and make sure that he stays on the right path. His father is not here to guide him, so I am doing my best to be there for him. But I am not his parent and there's only so much I can give him."

Another thought hit me and I added, "Please, watch over him and let him live. I know I'm old and I someday, I'll be gone, but it should not come after his death. He's just a child; he has several years ahead of him. Let him live and let him go home once this is all over. Watch over him; let the boy live and let him see his family again. And if it costs me my life, so be it. Just be there for him, that's all I ask."

There was no response to my prayer, so I just placed the rest of the sticks on the fire and walked into the cave so I could get some sleep as well. But as I lay down on the soft bed of leaves and heather, my eyes fell on Donatello once again and only one thought was on my mind before I fell asleep.

 _"Let him live."_

* * *

 _I slowly became aware of my surroundings and opened my eyes. But I wasn't lying in a cave on a soft bed anymore. I sat up and looked around. I was lying on soft green grass under a large cherry tree in full bloom. A soft pink flower fell from a branch and softly floated down to the ground in front of me. It looked like some kind of garden, with a small creek a stone's throw away from me, with a small wooden bridge going over it, and on the other side was something that looked like a hedge maze. A thin path also went from the garden maze, stopped at the bridge, but continued on the other side and kept going into the woods behind me. It also seemed to be dusk or dawn, it was hard to tell which one, but it was still light enough for me to see everything. But there was no one else in this garden; I was all alone._

 _I stood up and looked to see if there were any signs of life here, but found nothing. "Hello? Is there anyone here?" A soft breeze blew through the garden and it ruffled my mask tails, but I still saw no one. Then I saw a bright light in the corner of my eye and turned around to see what it was, but it was like looking straight into the sun- it stung my eyes and I had to shield my face with my arms so I wouldn't be blinded. When the light started to fade and I lowered my arms again, I saw someone on the path at the edge of the dark woods. It was a strangely familiar sight, but I couldn't understand why._

 _It was a woman, with long black hair that flowed around her like she was underwater. Part of it was tied into a bun on top of her head with a kanzashi through it with pink cherry blossoms decorating her hair. Her slightly slanted eyes were bright brown with a hint of ember in there and they seemed to radiate kindness and wisdom. She was dressed in a long, flowing pink dress- no, it wasn't a dress, it was a kimono, with dark purple obi tied around her waist. She also had naturally red lips and just a little bit of eyeliner and mascara. All in all, she looked beautiful but in a very modest way. This was a naturally beautiful woman, but seemed to have dressed up for an occasion. But despite how young she looked (she couldn't be older than thirty) she also seemed to have an elderly, wisdomly air about her. And even though I was sure I had never seen this woman in my life, there was something incredibly familiar about her._

 _I realized I was standing there with my mouth wide open and immediately closed it. I didn't know what to say or do so my instincts just kinda took over and I bowed in respect to her. She smiled, came up to me and placed a soft hand on my shoulder. "You don't have to fear me, Donatello. I promise you, I mean you no harm." Her voice was gentle and she had a soft Japanese accent, but what she said startled me so I didn't really notice at first. Okay, so she knew I was a little scared, I could get that. I mean, I did just see a woman appear out of the blue from a bright light, and that's not something you see everyday. But how did she know my name? I looked up at her smiling face, but still couldn't get myself to speak._

 _She pulled her hand back from my shoulder and gently grasped both her hands, looking down at me with a motherly smile. It was as if she knew me and was waiting for me to realize who she was, but I had no idea. Finally I managed to lick my lips and form a coherent sentence._

 _"I… I'm sorry, do I know you?" She let out a soft laugh, reached her hand and stroke my cheek with her soft, yet amused smile._

 _"Maybe not personally, but I have been watching over you and your brothers for quite some time. Unfortunately I have never been able to see you- our power is not what it used to be- but I know you very well. And I believe you know me too, in a sense." I felt my body stiffen a little when she touched me again, but for some reason it didn't feel weird that this complete stranger was touching me like this. I didn't understand why at first, but it was similar to when Master Splinter was trying comfort or reassure me that everything was gonna be alright after I had woken up from a nightmare when I was a kid. It was nice and comforting and out of absolute love, which made whatever problem I had feel small or insignificant. But I still didn't understand who this woman was or how she knew me and yet something about her still felt so strangely familiar. It was something about her eyes. I narrowed my eyes and took a closer look at her. Her long shiny hair, her pale skin, her red lips and her amber brown eyes. I paused at her eyes and then, just like that, all the pieces fell into place. I knew where I had seen those eyes before. For fifteen years I had seen them in a picture in the dojo back home and- more recently- on a sly, conniving girl that was constantly out to kill us. My eyes widened and I took a step back._

 _"You're… you're Tang Shen." Her smile widened a fraction and she nodded softly. I looked her over and swallowed. "How- why… how are you here? Didn't Shredder-? Am I… am I dreaming this?" Tang Shen straightened herself a little and her smile became a bit more serious._

 _"Not precisely. You are in fact asleep, but this is not entirely a dream. Earlier today you asked the Aeons for a sign, and here I am. They have finally allowed me to visit you." My jaw fell wide open again and I blinked several times, trying to process the information she had just given me._

 _"You're an… an Aeon? They're real?" She nodded. I put a hand on my head and tried to make sense of what she'd said. So, apparently there were beings that existed in everything living, just like Traximus said there were; but how did it work? I looked up when I felt Shen's hand on my arm and she smiled down at me._

 _"Don't try to wrap your head around it, Donatello. You will only confuse yourself more. Aeons exist in everything alive, that's true, but we're more like spirits than actual beings. We exist because the people we love still remember us, thus we exist AS they remember us. It is a little complicated, but that's the best way I can explain it to you." I tilted my head to the side and tried to my best to understand what she was saying, but it still didn't make a whole lot of sense._

 _"So when you die, you become an Aeon because the people who love you remember you?" Her face remained neutral, her smile neither fading nor growing._

 _"Not everyone can become an Aeon, Donatello. Only the beings deemed worthy can make that transition: those who have done very good things in their previous life, or those who honor life in every way they can, those who protect it and care for every living thing. That's what we do- protect and watch over everyone and everything." I stared up at her and once again tried to process all the information. It was a lot to take in, but considering everything that had happened to me and everything I had seen, it really didn't surprise me that spirits existed anymore._

 _But Tang Shen didn't look like she was here just to explain how Aeons worked. Her smile had turned into a serious frown and she looked me straight in the eyes. "You have ended up in quite a mess, Donatello. You are only a few steps away from starting a war with the Triceratons, which will no doubt complicate things for you. They will not give up the Black Hole Generator so easily." Oh, great; she was coming with one of THESE talks. I sighed and folded my arms over my chest._

 _"Yeah? Well I'm not going to give it up so easily, either. You say you've been watching over us for a long time? Then you should know that I'm not one to give up. Giving up is not an option, especially not when my planet is at stake."_

 _Shen smiled and nodded. "Oh, I am well aware of your dedication and tenacity. But I warn you, if you think your journey has been hard up until now, it will only become that much harder. You have to make sure you stay on the right path, the path you have chosen for yourself, the path that feels right for you." I blinked a few times and then looked down at the ground. She was right about one thing; my mission was only going to get harder. But I didn't understand what she meant about staying on the right path. But before I could ask, I felt her place a hand on my shoulder and when I looked up, she smiled at me._

 _"Which is why I am here. I know you feel alone in the world, but you should know you have friends who care about you very much. Traximus has asked us to help you and guide you, and that is what I will do. If you ever need help or guidance, you need only ask me. I will do everything I can to help you, and make sure you will make it back to Earth again." When she mentioned my friends and what Traximus had done, I felt a warmth grow in my stomach and a smile spread over my face. It felt good to hear that he cared about me enough to want to make sure I stayed safe and alright through out the journey. I looked up at Shen and raised an eyebrow at her._

 _"If you've watched over me and my brothers, why haven't tried to reach us before?" Shen's smile fell and she looked a little sad for a moment. She sighed and looked up at me._ _Shen's smile fell and she looked a little sad for a moment. She sighed and looked up at me._

 _"Once I became an Aeon I tried to reach my Yoshi, but because our powers have become so weak over the years, we can't reach out to whomever we please. We can watch over them as much as we want to, but we cannot speak to them. We save our power for the special cases. And apparently the Aeons find you special enough to gain most of our attention. We have been looking and searching for someone with the bravery and strength to find and destroy the machine, and I was hoping it would be all four of you. But now, it is the way it is. And I want you to know that you have the Aeons on your side."_

 _That felt pretty good to hear, but then one sentence caught my attention. She said the Aeons had been looking for someone to destroy the Black Hole Generator, right? Did that mean that the fact that I fell through that portal back home and ended up on D'hoonib was apart of some big plan? Was it all meant to happen?_

 _Shen's lips quirked amusedly. It was as if she had read my mind, but considering she was a spirit, it wouldn't surprise me if she could. "I'd like to believe that you are the one to finally bring an end to this senseless tyranny that the galaxy suffers under. I believe in you, Donatello. And so many others do too." I stared up at her in awe and her words seemed to confirm my theory; that everything that had happened had happened for a reason. That this WAS my fate. Shen placed her arm around my shoulders and walked with me, over the bridge and up to the hedge maze. She looked me straight in the eyes._

 _"Now, before I leave you, I have only one thing to tell you. I understand that this new world is exciting and that you may learn many new things about yourself and others, but you must never forget your roots. As much as you may come to love the worlds you'll see, or the friends you've made, never forget where you come from. Remember who you are, just as much as the people you have left behind on Earth." Her words reminded me of what Traximus had told me earlier:_

 _"You can work as hard as you have to and do what you have to do in order to succeed with your goals, but never, ever, lose sight of who you really are. Always keep your morals and ethics in your mind and your loved ones in your heart, and remember where you have your roots."_

 _Tang Shen smiled down at me and removed her hands from my shoulders. "You have a wonderful mind, Donatello, and you have untapped potential deep within you. But your greatest gift is your heart." She placed her hand on my plastron, just above my pounding heart. "You have filled it with the love of the people around you: your father, your brothers and your friends. That love has shaped you into a wonderful, loving young man. Never change that, Donatello. Love and care are such rare attributes these days and you can make such wonderful changes with your compassion."_

 _I was frozen in place and could only nod once she finished. "I'll try." She smiled again and reached into her belt._

 _"Good. Now, I want you to have something." She grabbed my wrist and placed something in my hand. It was a necklace, with a large, round silver locket with a familiar black crest on it; the crest of the Hamato Clan._

 _"Yoshi gave it to me on my birthday the year we became a couple. I had planned on giving it to my daughter when she grew up, but that can never happen. I want you keep your family close by, now that they're so far away." I opened the locket to find it empty, but I knew I could fill it with a picture once I got back to the ship. I looked up at her and bowed again, only this time it was less stiff and mechanic._

 _"Thank you, Tang Shen. I will do my best to honor our family." She smiled and brushed some hair out of her face._

 _"Good. Now, I must go. Take care of yourself and remember what I've told you tonight." She turned around to leave, but first pointed to the maze behind us. "Go through there. Then you will wake up in that cave again, but I must leave you. Sayōnara." I waved at her, then a thought entered my mind at the last second and I reached out to stop her._

 _"Oh, w-wait, Tang Shen!" She stopped and turned back to look at me. I swallowed and took a deep breath, preparing myself for the worst. "How is my family doing?" Her facial expression dropped and she suddenly looked very disheartened._

 _"They are very lost at the moment. You have left a gaping hole behind and they have a lot to work through. They feel… they feel betrayed... by Miwa." What? What had Karai done this time? It must have been bad if it made them all feel betrayed. But Shen looked so sad at the mention of her daughter and what had become of her that I decided not to ask any more about that. I turned towards the maze, smiled and gave a quick 'Arigatō' again before I turned to walk through the maze, Shen's necklace in my hand. But then, just as I saw a light headed towards me, I heard Shen's voice call out behind me. But it was so faint and far away that it was hard to hear what she said. All I managed to hear was:_

 _"Beware the darkness!"_

 _"Shen? Shen, what are you saying? Shen? Shen!"_

"Shen!" I jerked up from the bed and looked around me to try and see where Tang Shen was, but when all I saw was a small cave with daylight starting to seep in through the opening, I realized what had happened. It was all a dream. Mona Lisa and Traximus were still asleep and I was still tired, so I decided to try and sleep for a few more hours before I had to get up and start the day. I sighed dejectedly and made myself comfortable again before lying back down.

"Still, it was the best dream I've had in months," I muttered to myself, when I felt something on the ground beside me. I looked down... and saw Shen's locket beside the bed, as if it had been thrown there. I must have dropped it when I woke up. I narrowed my eyes, sat back up again and looked it over. No, there was no doubt about it; it was the exact same locket from my dream.

"It wasn't a dream. She came to me." I smiled widely and placed the locket in my belt before I laid back down to get some more sleep. Shen's warning was completely forgotten.

* * *

 **A/N: With so much talk of the Aeons, I felt it was time we actually get so meet one. And I liked the idea of making the Aeon that watches over Donnie Tang Shen. But I didn't want to seem like she was just watching over him, so I added in some sentences where she mentions watching over the others.**

 **I hope you liked this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	59. Chapter 58, Chosen One or Clumsy Fool?

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Hello! Can someone please tell me how I managed to go from updating every other week to only once a month? Seriously, what has made me become so lazy? I need to get a job, soon!**

 **Also, I don't know how I missed this, but until CJthestoryteller mentioned it in her review, I hadn't realized this story is now two years old. Again, I don't know how I missed it, but I guess I don't have to say that every time it happens. But I still find it incredible how I've been writing this story for two years and not given up yet. Granted, I'm not usually one to give up, but still. It's easy to lose interest after a while and I'm impressed that neither I nor my readers have lost interest. So, thank you for sticking around!**

 **I hope you'll like this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

* * *

Chapter 58, Chosen One or Clumsy Fool?

"-and that's when I woke up."

The suns were beaming down on us as Traximus, Mona and I made our way through the city and back to the ship where we would meet up with the others. I had just finished telling them about my dream and also showed them the necklace, so I wouldn't sound like a completely crazy person. Although I left out the part of Traximus praying for my safety, figuring it wasn't something he wanted me to bring up. Mona looked over the locket and ran her finger over the Hamato crest with her finger.

"This is so beautiful," she muttered to herself before she gave it back to me and looked up at me. "Well, I think it sounds like a sign. I mean, Shen said that she came because you asked for their help, right? And she also said that the Aeons have been looking for someone to destroy the Black Hole Generator, and you just happen to stumble into all of this? I mean, it can't _all_ be coincidence." She placed her hand to her chin, absentmindedly rubbing it while thinking for a second, then turned back to me.

"Maybe they wanted to tell you something? Maybe they're trying to say that this is your destiny? The Aeons wouldn't reach out to just anyone, especially not just because they asked for it. And besides, I still think it's a little farfetched that you just happened to end up in this particular situation by sheer accident." Traximus nodded and heaved his axe over his shoulder.

"She makes a good point. It all seems very convenient that you happen to land on D'hoonib and then stumble into the Triceratons' hands and find out about their vendetta with the Kraang. Perhaps they gave you a push in that direction, so that you could be the one to finish this?" I looked at both my friends, groaned and looked down at the locket in my hand.

"Great, just what I needed. Not only do I have to finish this senseless war, defeat the Triceratons and save my planet, but I've also become the Aeons 'Chosen One' and will have their eyes on every move I make, every step of the way. Great. Just _fantastic_." I know I sounded bitter and snappy as well as highly sarcastic, but I couldn't help it. Like it wasn't bad enough that billions of lives hinged on my success, but now I would also have the added pressure of the knowledge that if I failed, I wouldn't just let my people down, I would also let the Aeons down as well. Terrific. Absolutely wonderful.

I crossed my arms over my chest and sighed heavily, and eventually one hand found its way up to the amulet around my neck and I started to rub my thumb over its smooth surface. I realized more and more that it had become a habit to touch it or hold it. I chalked it up to being a nervous tic, since it usually calmed me down, but it was something I had begun to notice more and more.

Mona placed her hand on my shoulder and shook it excitedly, waking me straight out of my thoughtful daze. She was almost bouncing and had a smile that almost spread from one ear to the other.

"Donnie, you should see this as a massive honor! The Aeons haven't been involved in a war in years, and now that they've made contact with someone for the first time in decades, it's _you_! They've chosen _you_ to become the great hero to take down Zanramon and destroy the most evil weapon in existence! It means that they see something special in you!" I stared at Mona. She was a lot more excited and thrilled than I had ever seen her be. Even more than when we landed on Filione. This meant something special to her, that was plain to see.

Traximus smiled down at me and placed a big hand on my shoulder. "Mona Lisa is right, Donatello. The Aeons have great power and can see things which the mortal eye cannot. So if they see something in you and believe you are strong and brave enough to complete such a big task, you should see it as an honor and the greatest of compliments. You have all-powerful beings on your side and willing to help you succeed- you can't have a greater ally than that."

I looked away from Traximus and down at the ground. "I guess. But I don't understand what they _could_ see in me. I mean, there have to be thousands of strong, capable warriors in the galaxy, so why would they choose someone like me? If anything, it's my fault that the Triceratons are hunting after the pieces to the Black Hole Generator in the first place! Why would they think I would be the one to end their tyranny and bring peace to the galaxy? Aside from the obvious, my brain and my scientific knowledge, I don't have anything to offer anyone, especially not in a war. I'm… I'm nothing special. " Traximus smacked a hand against my shell so hard that I almost faceplanted on the ground.

"That is not true, Donatello." I managed to stay on my feet, but almost had to run a few steps just to make sure I wouldn't land on my face. But I barely had time to stand up straight before he practically slammed his hand back down on my shoulder, almost making my knees buckle under me. It was a miracle I remained on my feet.

"Man, one of these days this guy's gonna get me seriously hurt." I muttered under my breath as I straightened myself up. But Traximus wasn't finished just yet.

"Donatello, you underestimate yourself too much. You have a stronger spirit and more determination than anyone I have ever met, and you also have so much love and compassion in your heart. Not many warriors see the value in kindness and compassion these days. You've survived this long and I have no doubt that you will succeed." He grabbed both my shoulders and turned me towards him so he could look me in the eyes.

"You cannot let Zanramon or anyone else make you feel inferior. That's exactly what Zanramon wants; to knock you down and make sure you don't get back up again. He may not see you as a threat or take you seriously, but I know you have more than enough strength in you to knock him off his throne. You have made it this far and I know you are too stubborn to give up. And, for what it's worth, I am honored to be a part of this mission. I will be behind you every step of the way; I hope you know that." I just stared at him for a while, wracking my brain, trying to think of something good and intelligent to say. But before I could, I felt Mona's hand on my shoulder and when I turned to look at her I saw that she had a huge, sincere smile on her face.

"Donnie, I know we haven't had the smoothest friendship during this trip, but I won't abandon you guys. I am scared and I don't know how much help I'll really be. I'm not strong or brave or smart, but I will do what I can to help. I won't turn my back on you now that we've made it this far, and I know Jhanna and Starlee won't either. You're not in this alone, Donnie. We've got your back."

I looked between them a few times and had blink a few times so they wouldn't see I had tears forming in my eyes. I took a deep breath and placed my hands over theirs. "Thank you, guys. You have no idea how much this means to me." Traximus smirked good-naturedly at me and patted my shoulder.

"Let's go. Jhanna and Starlee are probably waiting for us at the ship by now." He started to walk down the street again, his axe still thrown over his shoulder. Mona and I shared a look at each other, smiled and then hurried after him. But as we kept walking, I couldn't wipe that stupid smile off my face.

 _'Man, how did I manage to find friends like these guys?'_

Once we made it back to the ship, we saw that it was still being looked over. A few large creatures in suits were working on the hole in the roof, and a few others seemed to be working on the fuel containers.

Starlee and Jhanna were sitting outside the ship on a low stone wall, each with a drink in hand and a lot less clothing on. Today was just as warm- if not warmer- than yesterday had been when we arrived, so I guess it made sense for them to not dress in long pants and two layers of shirts. Starlee had a knee-long skirt and a tank top and she was still wearing her roller skates. Jhanna was wearing cargo shorts, a tank top and pair of sneakers, but what really caught my attention was her hair. While it was still tied up- only this time in a ponytail- it was significantly shorter and only reached down a bit past her shoulders and her bangs were cut into side bangs. All this, accompanied with the ponytail, made me think of April and I felt my heart clench painfully. But I couldn't let them see it, so I put on a smile and came up to them, trying to act as if nothing was wrong.

Starlee looked up from her glass, smiled, jumped down from the wall and came skating up to us, throwing her arms around me, then Mona and finally Traximus. "Hi, guys! I was starting to wonder when you were gonna show up." Jhanna, who was sitting one leg over the other, smiled teasingly before she uncrossed her legs and jumped down to greet us.

"It's about time you showed! We were starting to wonder if you had gotten lost or something." I raised an eyebrow at her and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Alright, out of all of us, who is the most likely to get lost, really? I've got quite the photographic memory, remember? I'd be more worried about you two getting lost." Jhanna rolled her eyes and brushed her bangs out of her face.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." She leaned on one leg, resting one hand on her hip and her teasing smile turned more genuine. "So… how was your night? You didn't have any more trouble, did you?" I shrugged and uncrossed my arms.

"Eh, nothing more than a few bigots. Nothing we couldn't handle. The night itself was calm and we didn't have any trouble finding a place to sleep." I lowered my voice a little and leaned in closer to her so she could hear me. "Though I had a really strange dream last night." Jhanna narrowed her eyes and leaned in closer.

"About what?" I looked around and saw the Professor coming out of the ship, so I quickly told her that I'd fill them in later and looked over to the Professor. He smiled his usual robot smile and waved at us.

"Hello, friends! Wonderful day, isn't it?" Jhanna and I smiled at him and Starlee and Mona came over to us.

"It's very hot, that's for sure," Jhanna muttered and brushed her sweaty bangs out of her eyes. She clearly didn't like the heat, but Mona smiled contentedly, spread her arms out and tilted her head to the sun and closed her eyes.

"Mm, yes, isn't it wonderful? I didn't realize how much I had missed the sun until today." Starlee and Jhanna looked at her like she was crazy, probably because of how their bodies didn't handle heat the same way we did. And given how their foreheads were already glistening with sweat, I could understand them. Me and Mona on the other hand were quite enjoying the temperature and I didn't feel overheated or uncomfortable at all. In fact, if anything, it felt wonderful to be out of the cold, dead ship and be outside under the sun and in the fresh air.

Traximus walked up to the Professor and placed his axe against the stonewall. "How are the repairs coming along?" The Professor's smile dropped and he let out a tired groan.

"Well, unfortunately, when we arrived most repairmen had already gone home, so I had to wait until early today for help. They have only just started and it will take some time before they will be finished." Then he perked up again and smiled again. "But on the bright side, I have contacted Pluto Khan and he is here, just as I suspected he would be. And I told him I wanted to arrange a meeting today. He told me to meet him at a bar on the city's town square."

He came over to me and the girls. "Unfortunately I have to stay behind and watch over the repairs. I told Pluto Khan that I would send my friends to see him and that he needs to look out for you." I looked at the others and then back to the Professor.

"But we don't know who he is or how he looks. How will we know who he is?" The Professor smiled and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Oh, you can't miss him. And even if you don't know him, he will know who you are. Don't worry, you will be fine." Mona rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest.

"Well, that doesn't sound incredibly vague or anything. You don't have to give us _all_ the details, Professor, we can figure a few things out for ourselves." The Professor shrugged and laughed nervously.

"Well, I would go with you if I could, but I have to stay here and overlook the repairs. But I have told him to look out for you at the bar, so he'll know you when you walk in. You'll be fine."

I sighed heavily and looked over at Mona and Jhanna, who just shrugged- it was my call, apparently. I sighed again and nodded tiredly, fingering the amulet around my neck.

"Alright, we should get moving, then." The Professor looked at the amulet and then at me with slightly nervous robot-eyes.

"Uh, are you going to bring that device with you? I mean, it _is_ filled with black matter, which is very dangerous. Wouldn't it be better if you left it back on the ship?" I shook my head and let go of it.

"I don't want to leave it here with a bunch of workers here. They might find it and steal it or break it. I want to keep it close by, so I can keep an eye on the stuff." The Professor didn't look entirely convinced, but I ignored him and looked over at Traximus. "Are you coming with us, Trax?" He shook his head and placed a big hand on the Professor's shoulders.

"No, it would be better if I stayed behind. I will help the Professor with repairing the ship. Also, it would make things that much harder for you if Pluto Khan saw you with a Triceraton. It's better if I stay here." I nodded. He made a good point, though I was little disappointed that I wouldn't get a chance to talk more to him about my dream.

"Okay. Well, we'd better get going. See you later. Come on, girls, let's go." We started to walk down the street, when I suddenly heard the Professor call out for us, making us all turn back to look at him. He came up to us with a bottle in his hand, which he gave to Mona Lisa.

"It's very warm today and it will probably get warmer. You need to stay hydrated. Also, make sure you are back by sundown. Even if the ship isn't ready by then, I don't like the idea of you running around the city after dark." Jhanna waved nonchalantly at him and smiled wryly.

"Don't worry about it, Professor. We'll be fine; we're not kids, we can take care of ourselves! Now, come on guys, we're losing daylight just standing around here." Mona rolled her eyes but with a very small, barely visible smile, followed, with me quick to join them. Starlee was still skating, but was considerate enough to match her speed with our pace.

Suddenly I felt a faint prickling in my neck and stopped to look around me. Mona stopped too and looked at me. "What's wrong?" I looked around in every direction I could without seeing anything out of the ordinary.

"I… I feel like someone is watching us." I looked around again before shrugging. "Eh, it's probably nothing. I'm probably just paranoid or something... let's keep moving." We started walking again, but the feeling was still there. I grabbed at the amulet around my neck nervously and rubbed my thumb over its surface.

 _'Relax, Donnie; it's nothing. There's no one here who wants to hurt you- how would the Triceratons know where to find you?'_

I tried to reassure myself and it worked pretty well, but there was still that small voice deep down that told me something really bad was going to happen today.

* * *

I don't know how long I had been watching that ship, but it was probably at least an hour until they finally showed up. I had seen Jhanna and Starlee outside almost the whole time and it took a whole lot of effort to not run out there and grab them right away.

'Well, why can't I? What reason do I have to follow through on the deal? It's not like I'll lose anything by leaving right now.'

While the thought was tempting, something in me made stay put, if only because the thought of the Triceratons wanting revenge for my betrayal and hurting my sisters wouldn't leave me alone. So I waited and waited until all of them started to head into the city.

"Well, that's my cue." I adjusted the wig and my clothes, hoping I looked as inconspicuous as I needed to. If Jhanna and Starlee recognized me, the jig would be up in a millisecond and they would know something was up. Or at least Jhanna would- she had always been suspicious of my intentions and disliked my loyalties to our father. She just refused to understand why I did what I did.

I walked out of the ship and started to walk after the little group, with Zog's device in my pocket, and made sure to keep enough distance between us so it wouldn't look like I was following them, but also made sure to always keep them within sight. I saw that reptile freak turn around to look behind them, so I had dived in behind another ship until they started walking again.

I sighed and shook my head in annoyance as I got back up on my feet again. "That Triceraton freak's little circus better be worth it," I muttered to myself and hurried after the little gang so I wouldn't lose them the first thing I did.

* * *

As we walked down the street towards the bar, I looked between the girls. "If we finish talking to Pluto Khan quickly, we may have some time over to explore the city. I'd love to see more of this place." Starlee smiled widely and threw her head, flicking her hair out of her eyes.

"That would be great! I'd love to have a little fun in between all the drama and action that's been happening lately. I don't think I've ever even seen so much fun stuff in one place in all my life." Jhanna looked over at her with a teasing smile.

"That's because you haven't, Sis. I've been all over Peblak back home and there's absolutely nothing fun outside of dance clubs and pubs. And that's not exactly fun if you're not into that stuff." Mona wrinkled her nose and seemed disgusted by the ideas the words 'clubs' and 'pubs' gave her. And I couldn't exactly blame her; I had heard what could happen at pubs in big cities on the news back home.

Now that the city was in broad daylight and since we had been here for a while, it didn't feel at all as hostile as it had yesterday. I guess that was because we weren't in that 'anti-reptile' zone anymore, but it still felt a lot better now that the sun was out and it was still early noon, barely past ten AM. For some reason it made everything seem very fresh and newly awoken. Not a whole lot of people were out yet, but some shops, restaurants and a few other places were starting to open for the day. Birdsong was heard from a distance and soft music was playing from some of the opened buildings. The planet was awake, and its residents were starting to wake up with it.

I took in a deep breath through my nose and let myself breathe in the wonderful feeling of this morning. I knew it would only get more hectic as the day went on, so it would be best to savor this feeling while it lasted.

Mona Lisa seemed to enjoy this morning just as much as I did, especially the sun. I caught her tilting her head towards the sun quite a few times and just let herself bask in its warmth. She had the Professor's bottle in the belt around her waist and it swung and bounced slightly against her hip with every step she took. Jhanna and Starlee didn't seem to enjoy it quite as much, though Starlee was certainly somewhat enjoying it. At least both of them had been smart enough to dress accordingly so they wouldn't overheat.

My eyes fell on Jhanna. I don't know what it was, but something about her made me think of April whenever I looked at her. Her newly cut hair, the ponytail, and the clothing really reminded me of her. And while it made my heart clench and ache just like earlier, it also made me feel strangely at ease. Kinda like she was here with me, despite how Jhanna was not really that much like April. At least not personality-wise, except for that crazy stubbornness and loyalty. My feelings for April were still there and I found myself lying awake at night wishing she was there with me and that I could see her again. You only get so far by looking at photographs for a few months; after a while you want to see the real thing.

I was so deep in my thoughts that I didn't realize I was staring and Jhanna looked up at me and jumped a little. Her cheeks turned a light shade of purple and her eyes flickered a little before meeting mine. I cleared my throat and tried to think of something good to say and my eyes fell on her hair again.

"Uh, y-you've cut your hair," I stammered lamely and tried to sound more confident than I felt. Jhanna blinked at me and then looked at her ponytail and fingered a little on her bangs.

"Uh, yeah, Starlee helped me cut it a little last night. Though it feels a little weird that my hair isn't as heavy as before." She sounded a little dismissive, as if she was trying to act like she didn't really care about it, but I also picked up on a little anticipation in her tone. Like she wanted to know what I thought, but didn't want me to know that. So I smiled and teasingly pulled at her ponytail.

"I like it. It suits you." She smiled and pushed my hand away with a playful smirk. But I also saw her cheeks were still a light shade darker than usual. I shrugged. It was probably because of the heat. But when I looked away from her, I saw that Starlee was looking at Jhanna with a knowing smile on her face. Jhanna noticed this and glared at her younger sister, which only made Starlee's smile widen. I shrugged and assumed it was just sisters being sisters and kept walking, until I heard Jhanna talk again.

"Hey, Donnie? You said something about a weird dream, are you gonna fill us in on that?"

Starlee looked up and stared at me. "Dream? What dream?" I quickly told Jhanna and Starlee about last night's dream, how Tang Shen had talked to me, and told them about the advice she had given me. I also showed them the locket she had given me, so they would believe me. Starlee looked at me with wide eyes and listened carefully to every word I said.

"Wow, the Aeons spoke to you? That's amazing! I've never heard of anyone speaking with the Aeons." Jhanna seemed a little less convinced and eyed the locket with suspicion.

"Seems a little convenient if you ask me. I mean, you ask the Aeons for a sign and it comes the very same night? Why didn't they come earlier, or try to help you before, if they have kept such a close eye on you? I don't know, seems like a bunch of hooey if you ask me." Mona rolled her eyes and took the locket from me, almost shoving it in Jhanna's face.

"Uh, hello? Did you miss that he woke up with the same locket he saw in his dream? It couldn't just be dream, or else this wouldn't be here!" Jhanna raised her hands defensively and shrugged with a nonchalant expression on her face.

"I'm not saying that he's making this stuff up. I'm just saying that it seems a bit weird that the Aeons, who say they watch over everyone and protect life in every way, choose to wait for people to ask for their help rather than help because they want to. 'Oh, look, these kids are getting involved with the Triceratons and may possibly need our help to save billions of lives, but let's wait for him to come to us before we intervene.' Talk about picking your battles." Mona narrowed her eyes and I could see that she felt offended on the Aeons' behalf, so I quickly put the locket away, ready to try and change the subject.

"Well, she said that their power has gotten weaker over the years, so maybe they have to pick and choose their battles a bit. I mean, they may not be able to help everyone in the galaxy." I quickened my pace, forcing the others to hurry up a little so they could keep up, thus dropping the subject of the Aeons and my dream.

* * *

 **A/N: Okay, it's finally done! Seriously, you have no idea how much I struggled with the last part of this chapter. So much so, I eventually scrapped it and decided to use that part in a later chapter. Well, we're starting to get closer to the really emotional and dark stuff. I both want to get to it right away and also want to spare you from all the horrible things that are going in my mind.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


	60. Chapter 59, Pluto Khan

A Million Miles Apart

 **A/N: Hi, I'm back! So it's been awhile since I posted something, but I had some trouble with what to write next. I started writing one thing, then decided to save it for next chapter, and I hope you'll understand when you read that chapter. I've also had some writer's block, or not so much writer's block as, knowing what I want to write but just not being able to actually write it. Don't you just hate when that happens?**

 **Also, I've had some trouble with finding work. I thought I found something at a café, but they decided they didn't want me so I have to keep looking. But I finally found some time and energy to write and now, here it is!**

 **I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and please review, favorite and follow!**

* * *

Chapter 59, Pluto Khan

I can't say I've been to many bars in my life. Well, okay, I've never set foot in a bar in my whole life, not even in a fight against bad guys. So I guess I should say I didn't know what I was expecting when we walked into the bar the Professor had described for us, but I was prepared for the worst: loud, unbearable music, men and women drinking themselves half-blind and yelling to each other to be heard over the noise. But that wasn't at all what I saw or heard when we walked through the door.

Compared to everything I had seen on this journey through space, this was arguably one of the- for lack of a better word- simplest places I had seen. It was almost entirely built out of wood and the furniture consisted of wooden tables and benches and a large chandelier with burning candles lit up the room. In a way it reminded me of a nineteenth-century bar, except for all the strange-looking creatures that were sitting at the tables. Thankfully there were only a handful of people in here and no one appeared to be plastered yet. I guess it was too early for that, even for this party planet's residents.

I have no idea if there were any age restrictions for alcohol around here or if there were any rules for going into bars when you're still a kid, but if there were, no one cared enough to question why a bunch of teens walked into the bar and just kept minding their own business as if we weren't there. One would think that people would at least look at Starlee and tell her she couldn't be here.

Jhanna threw her head to flick her bangs out of her face and looked across the room, only mildly annoyed. "Okay, we're here- where's Pluto Khan and how do we know who he is?" Mona shrugged helplessly and fingered a little on her pink ribbon, which she had tied around her neck like a scarf.

"I don't know. The Professor didn't exactly give us any clear descriptions or anything. Could be anyone in here, really." I bit my lip and eyed the room from one end to the other, trying to deduce who Pluto Khan could be, when I felt Starlee tug on my arm and- as subtle as possible- point to one of tables furthest into the locale.

"There- I think that's him." A lone man was sitting with a tall mug of some kind of amber liquid in it in front of him and his nose in some kind of tech tablet. He had brown leathery skin, four arms with pointed fingers, and while his expression was neutral and concentrated on the tablet in front of him, something about the wrinkles on his face and around his eyes said that he was a man that smiled a lot.

I looked over at Starlee. "Why do you think that's him?"

She shrugged with pursed lips. "I don't know- I just have a feeling... I mean, if he came here to see us and give us information about the locations of the most dangerous weapon this side of the galaxy, he wouldn't sit with others, right? Besides, there's just something about him. Something… I don't know, mysterious about him." I looked over at Jhanna and Mona.

Mona shrugged and folded her arms over her chest. "Doesn't hurt to try, I guess. Worst case scenario, he'll just say that we're wrong and we have to try someone else." Jhanna nodded.

"Yeah, and it's not like we have too many options here. Let's go for it." I sighed and nodded. It wasn't exactly something I was comfortable with, just walking up to a complete stranger and asking who they were. There was a reason why it had taken me so long to feel comfortable around April. I mean, aside from the obvious. I was not the most sociable turtle in the family. But it's not like we had much of a choice right now, and Jhanna and Starlee were more comfortable talking to strangers than me, so I could always count on them to carry the conversation if I found myself unable to.

I sighed and nodded. "Okay, let's go." I took the lead and we walked further into the bar, trying not to draw any attention to ourselves. Not that we had to. No one gave us more than a passing glance and just kept to themselves and their friends or their drinks. But I still felt way out of my element inside a bar with the smell of strange alcohol and foods, which made me wrinkle my nose and try to hold my breath so I wouldn't smell it.

As we came up to the table I felt Jhanna lightly shove me forward and when I turned to look at her over my shoulder, she nodded her head at the alien in front of us. She mouthed 'go on' at me and furrowed her brows a little. I glared at her, rolled my eyes and turned back to the man, taking a breath.

I cleared my throat as politely as I could, making him look up in slight surprise from his tablet. He eyed us curiously, his mouth forming a small, slightly amused smile. "Ah, _Savidal_ , young ones." He raised one hand, held up two fingers and moved his hand in a circular motion. "Can I help you with something?"

I immediately felt unsure of what to say or do next, as I had no idea what he had just said or meant with that gesture. If I said and did the wrong thing I could screw up without even realizing it. Thankfully Jhanna seemed to catch on very quickly that I was confused (and thank heavens for that) and leaned in to whisper in my ear from behind me. "Intergalactic greeting. It's used throughout almost the entire galaxy. Just smile and repeat it." I let out a small sigh of relief, tried to shake off any obvious signs of being nervous and repeated the gesture with my hand, if not a little stiffly, and while hoping to all that was holy that me having only three fingers didn't completely screw up the gesture.

"Uh, _Savidal_ , Sir. We're sorry to disturb, but I have to ask: are you Pluto Khan?" He put his tablet down and his smile became strained ever so slightly.

"That depends. Who's asking?" I felt myself relax at his smile and tried to smile myself.

"Oh, yes, of course! My name is Donatello and these are my friends, Jhanna, Mona Lisa and Starlee. We're friends of the Professor Honeycutt. He said you were good friends and that we were to meet you here." His smile broadened significantly and he appeared a lot more friendly all of the sudden.

"Ah, yes, Honeycutt's little friends! I have been expecting you. Please, sit down and we'll talk." I exchanged smiles with the girls and we sat down around the table. Pluto Khan rested two of his arms on the table and intertwined his fingers, while using one of his other hands to pick up his tablet and play around with it and bringing his mug to his lips with the fourth one. I gripped my hands, straightened my back a bit and tried to look like I knew what I was doing and what I was talking about.

"So I assume the Professor told you about us." Pluto took a quick sip of his drink, put it back down on the table and then turned his attention back to us.

"He didn't really have to. Word has started to spread that a group of kids has taken it upon themselves to find and destroy the Black Hole Generator and take down the Triceraton Empire. And let me tell you, I get my stuff from pretty reliable sources." Jhanna had her arms folded over her chest and rested one foot over her knee, one eyebrow raised and her usual judgmental frown on her face.

"Then you already know what we're trying to accomplish by doing this. And why we're here." Pluto eyed her with dry amusement before turning back to his tablet.

"You wish to save the planet Tellus, also known as Earth, in solar system 3091b in the outer rings of the galaxy, from being destroyed by the Black Hole Generator. By doing this you fling yourself into a war where you wish to defeat the Triceratons, but your true goal is to save the planet and not overthrow these tyrants. You currently have the first piece, that you found on Zerij, and now need to find the remaining pieces and collect them."

I nodded, impressed and disturbed by how he knew all this. But, then again, The Professor had probably told him, so what do I know? "That is correct."

Starlee brushed some hair out of her eyes. "And we still have to figure out where the remaining pieces are located. The Professor told us that you might know where the two other pieces are."

Pluto grinned slyly and placed one of his hands on his tablet and then made an upward gesture with it. Suddenly the display moved from the tablet and up into the air, like a hologram, and it showed a map over what I could only assume was the Milky Way, with two red dots blinking in two different places, pretty far apart. He then placed one hand on the display and moved another hand at the edge of it, enlarging it.

"Here we have the whole galaxy, with thousands of stars and planets in this part alone. Narrowing down the location of the Black Hole Generator pieces was tricky, but not impossible. And with the right sources, you can find pretty much any information you want."

He pressed one of the dots and the display suddenly showed pictures and data of what I could only describe as a nebula. But the pictures from inside the nebula seemed to indicate it was some kind of underwater world. It was quite beautiful.

"The second piece is located here, in the Cosmic Ocean of Varuna. Its exact location is unknown, but it's in there somewhere, that much I know. I also know that it's being guarded by two of the most dangerous monsters in the galaxy. The first one is the giant carnivorous plant Chamalla, able to fire paralyzing shots of venom at beings and then eat them whole. And if the venom doesn't kill you, it puts you in a coma, possibly for life. The second monster is a giant serpent-like monster named Cthugga, and the only way to get past it is to show you are worthy of the piece. I used to have a good friendship with Hiidrala, the queen of this beautiful world, and she has confirmed all this. Find her and tell her that Pluto Khan sent you and she will tell you what you need to know."

In the corner of my eye I saw Starlee fish out her own tablet and write down the information, most likely so nothing would be forgotten, which I had to give her props for- it was more than I had thought of. Then again, I hardly forget anything important, but that was still good thinking on her part.

Pluto swiped back to the map and pressed on the other red dot, situated at the far end of the galaxy, almost as far away from Earth as possible. As if this whole trip was taunting me. The last piece was located at the end of the galaxy, meaning even if we got it we still had to travel all the way back the way we came to get to Earth.

"The third and final piece is hidden here, on the planet Arion. Or, as most will call it these days, the Doomsday Planet."

Mona rolled her eyes and rested her chin on her clenched fist. "Well _that_ doesn't sound ominous at all."

Pluto continued on as if she hadn't said anything. "A long time ago this planet was destroyed in a war with its inhabitants, which led to an explosion that wiped out almost all life on the planet and mutated the rest. The atmosphere consists of nothing but toxic fumes and will most likely kill you in seconds. The mutated beings that still live on that planet- soulless monsters that neither eat nor drink- feed on fear, hatred and greed and will kill anyone they lay eyes on. That is their only instinct. The piece is located inside of the planet's many factories, hidden on a planet no one dares to even mention anymore, that is all I know of where it is."

He looked up from his photos and info and eyed us all. "This mission you've taken upon yourselves is going to be dangerous, not to mention that you'll literally be fighting against all odds to succeed. These places are dangerous and full of all kinds of dangers for you to face, and that's overlooking the Triceratons and the Federation.

A solemn silence fell around the table after he finished and we all looked at each other. My mind was racing at a million miles per hour. Cosmic underwater nebulae, plant and snake monsters, soulless mutants that feed on negative emotions, toxic gas and a planet that was literally called a Doomsday planet. That was a lot to take in all at once and I fully realized how dangerous this was going to be. I mean, excluding the Triceratons and the obvious enemy, there were going to be quite a few dangerous monsters, mutants and aliens for us to fight and survive. And I had to lead my friends through all of that and be there to decide what the best course of action would be. Something I knew Leo was way better at than me.

But I also knew that if we didn't do this, no one else would. Earth, as far as I knew, was so insignificant and so few aliens knew about it that chances are, they wouldn't care. Earth was still in its own little bubble, barely reaching outside its own atmosphere. If I gave up and threw in the towel because the risk of failing was too big, then Earth wouldn't stand a chance. No one else would step up to be its hero and try to stop the Triceratons. I could very well just leave the responsibility for this to someone else, no matter how willing they were to take it on. But the reason Earth was in danger was because of me, so I had to fix it.

This was not the time to let my insecurities get the better of me. I had to stay strong and pull through, no matter the cost.

Mona had placed her elbows on the table and showed no signs of fear or surprise or worry. She kept a pretty straight face, with a slightly raised eyebrow and half-closed eyes. "So, basically we're gonna be in incredible danger, even if we overlook the Triceratons, and the risk of dying is pretty high no matter what we do." I fought the urge to turn to her and give her my 'you're not helping' glare and just lowered my head so no one would see that I was a bit shaken and worried. But I still rested my head in my hands and sighed.

"Great. As if this wasn't going to be hard enough as it was, now I have worry about monsters, aliens and mutants on top of the Triceratons." I didn't mean for anyone to hear what I said, but Starlee, however, seemed to hear what I muttered and immediately looked up at Mona and Jhanna somewhat frantically.

"We can't just give up, we still have to try! Yes, it's going to be dangerous and we might die, but if we don't do anything, the Triceratons will definitely win and Earth is doomed. Even if we fail, we still have to try or there's no chance Earth will survive, right?" I looked up at her and had to smile at the energy in her voice and the determined expression on her face. There were times where I had to remind myself that she was still a kid, barely hitting puberty yet. And right now, her childlike bravery and determination shone through her sound arguments and intelligence.

And either Jhanna caught onto what she was trying to do or she was the most loyal and determined person I have met to date, 'cause she smiled and placed an arm around her sister, shaking her lightly and hugging her to her side.

"Of course we're gonna try. We've already come this far and we have the first piece. We're not gonna quit now that we're one third done already, just because it's gonna be a little tough. We already knew that going into this and we're gonna keep fighting." She glanced over at me with a soft smile. "No matter what."

Mona nodded and smiled at me. "We're your friends Donnie, we're with you till the end. You've come to our rescue plenty of times already, we trust you to lead us and make the best decisions for your planet and us. We've got your back." Starlee nodded and smiled so widely, the dimples in her cheeks appeared.

"Yeah, who cares if it's gonna be tough? We made a promise to help you and we will. You can trust us to stay by your side."

Jhanna gently removed her arm from around Starlee so she could face me easier, reached out her other hand and placed it on my shoulder. "I can tell you're scared, Donnie, we all are. But I have faith in you as my friend and as my leader. I've seen you take on Triceratons without any hesitation and you fought off a giant cave monster to save us, despite that you had an injured leg! You're as tough as they come. Plus, you're clearly smart enough to handle yourself on your own. You don't have to be afraid of me abandoning you with this. Just lead the way, and I'll follow, till the bitter end."

Mona and Starlee nodded and Starlee reached out her arm and placed her hand on the table. "We all will. And we'll defeat the Triceratons." Mona nodded and placed her hand over Starlee's. "Together." Jhanna grinned at them and placed her hand over Mona's and looked at me with expectant eyes.

I stared at them all with wide eyes and for the longest time I couldn't think of anything good to say. It felt silly, but even after all we had been through together up until this point, it still felt so incredibly touching to know that these girls were willing to stick with me no matter what. I felt tears form in my eyes but I quickly blinked them away before anyone could see them, smiled and placed my hand on Jhanna's.

"Right. Together."

Pluto smiled at us and shook his head. "You four are something different. So loyal and determined. Such a rare sight these days in times of war, fear and hatred. But before you all run off and throw yourself into another fight, can I offer you some free advice?" I got the feeling he meant to all of us, but he looked specifically at me while he asked his question. Which felt a little weird, but I nodded either way and drew my hand away from the girls.

"Uh, yes, of course. We need all the help we can get." Pluto leaned in closer to me and looked me straight in the eyes.

"Alright, you will go up against Triceratons, Federation and all kinds of dangerous beings. These guys will not go easy on any of you because you're kids- they will not hesitate to kill you if they see you as a threat, or even a mild nuisance. So my best advice is to be ready to be just as ruthless as them, and do whatever you have to in order to win. Even things you might consider… hm, what is the correct Earth term… below the belt?"

I furrowed my brows and looked over at Jhanna, who shrugged at me, and tilted my head slightly. "What exactly are you saying?"

"You wanna win this war?" I nodded. Of course I did, my whole planet rode on this mission's success. "Okay, kid, I can see that you're a good kid with a big heart. I can see it in your eyes, you value kindness and compassion, don't you?" He gave me a soft smile. I have no idea how he could see that, but I recognized a compliment and straightened my back and smiled slightly.

"And that's all fine and good, but it's not gonna cut it in a war." My smile fell and my shoulders slumped slightly. "See, these guys aren't gonna play fair, so if you insist on playing fair, you're going to wind up dead. You have to be ready to play on their level. Unorthodox, maybe, but if it's what it takes to succeed and save billions of lives, the end might justify the means, right?"

I took in everything he said and tried to keep an open mind, but I couldn't help but feel turned off by what he was implying. I mean, I could see the logic in his words, but I couldn't help but shudder at what the future might force me to do. But if I didn't, it might cost my whole planet and all the innocent lives on it, so did that make it okay?

Pluto pulled away from me and swallowed another sip of his drink. "Though, if you want to save Earth then you might want to hurry a little or it might be too late by the time you get all three pieces." He said it very carelessly, as if it was no big deal, but if he thought it didn't catch my attention then he was sorely mistaken. I straightened up immediately and stared at him with wide-open eyes.

"What? What do you mean, 'too late'?" He looked up, genuinely surprised, and tilted his head to the side.

"You haven't heard? I would have thought an earthling of all beings might have heard?" I shook my head and my worry increased by the second. I hadn't had any contact with Earth since that day I fell through that portal back home, and that was months ago. The girls were also looking a bit concerned at this point and I absentmindedly felt Jhanna's hand on my shoulder again, but I didn't acknowledge it.

Pluto put his mug down and looked me in the eyes again. "The Kraang. Rumor said that they made their move a few weeks ago and their invasion has started. Fortunately their mutagen supply is so low after their attack on the city New York, so it's currently held up for some time, but it has started." My heart plummeted into my stomach and I think I stopped breathing for a minute. I heard Starlee gasp and Mona's eyes widened. Jhanna's grasp on my shoulder tightened slightly, but I didn't really notice it. My thoughts flew back to my family and my friends. What had happened to them? Were they still alive or had they gotten caught in the crossfire?

Pluto pushed on his tablet's display a few times and gave it to me. "Here, look for yourself." I snatched it away from him and looked over the display in a panic. What I saw made me gasp and almost drop the tablet in shock and terror. It was New York alright, but not at all like I remembered it. From what I could tell it looked like Time Square, but the massive screens were pretty much the only giveaway. The rest of the street was filled with giant, crystal-like structures (which in retrospect I recognized as the crystal inside the power cell that powered the Shellraiser) and strange human/Kraang hybrids were trying to escape Kraang-bots that were trying to capture them.

I felt something inside me die when I looked over my beautiful New York City and it all looked like something from a science fiction movie. From the corner of my eye I saw Jhanna look over my shoulder to see better and Starlee stood up from her seat and ran over to my other side so she could look over my other shoulder, while Mona stood up and leaned over Jhanna's shoulder to see. I didn't see their reactions, but I heard that they were also horrified by what they saw.

"New York… it's all… Kraangified." My voice was barely above a whisper and I don't think I could speak louder if I tried. Starlee rested her head on my shoulder and gently hugged my arm. I think that's what woke me out of my daze and I took a deep breath and tried to steady my voice.

"B-but it's okay. My brothers will fix it. We've saved Earth from the Kraang before, they can do it again, it'll be fine." Mona looked up at me.

"Are you sure? I mean, they had you with them the first time, right?" I looked over at her for a second, then back at the tablet and nodded.

"Yeah, of course they can. I know they can." But it felt like I was trying to convince myself, more than trying to convince Mona. Then I got an idea and looked up at Pluto, who had been respectfully quiet this whole time. "Hey, can this thing show individual people?" He nodded and took it back for a second.

"Of course. Just let me make a few adjustments…" He muttered a little, tapped the tablet a little and then gave it back to me. "Here, I've turned on the voice command. Just say who you want to see and it'll show you. Wherever you are."

I took the tablet with both hands again and looked down at the display. It still showed New York, but I trusted that it would work, so I just took a deep breath and went over in my head who to ask to see. Leo? Raph? Mikey? Master Splinter? I bit my lip and felt butterflies bounce around in my stomach and my palms were so sweaty it was a miracle the tablet didn't slip out of my hands. I hadn't seen a glimpse of my family in months. And now I had the chance to see them again. How were they doing? Had they moved on? Were they still grieving?

I took another deep breath and then just blurted out the first name that came to mind. "I would like to see Master Splinter, please." I added 'please', mostly on instinct, but whether it was needed or not, the display changed and showed a map, moving from New York City, upstate, until it stopped somewhere in Northampton, then zoomed in until we saw a big white house and then zoomed in even more until we saw the inside. And what I saw next, knocked all air straight of my lungs.

Instead of just seeing Master Splinter, like I had expected, I saw my entire family. Leo, Raph, Mikey, April and Casey and Master Splinter and they were all gathered inside a small, homey kitchen. That alone was a bit much all at once, but that wasn't it. The tablet didn't have any speakers or anything, so I couldn't hear what was said, but I could see on their mouths that they were laughing and having fun. Casey was leading April in a classic 'ball dance' but they were both smiling so widely and laughing so hard that it looked more like they were holding each other while stumbling around in the kitchen. Mikey was trying to do the same kind of dance with Raph, who surprisingly enough seemed to enjoy himself more than one would expect him to. Their dance was highly exaggerated and they were also laughing really hard. Leo and Splinter weren't dancing; they just stood close to the wall and watched with big smiles. Leo's leg was in a cast (which really worried me, what had happened in New York for him to get hurt?!) and he was leaning on a crutch, but right now it looked more like he needed it to stand upright and not fall over from laughing too hard. Splinter wasn't laughing so hard, but he had a fond smile on his face and had his hand around Leo's shoulder, clearly enjoying the view of the little dance party.

My whole body went numb and I struggled to breathe. They were happy. They were doing fine without me and were even having a dance party- despite how New York was under attack- and didn't seem bothered at all that I wasn't there with them. They were fine without me. No tears, no looks of sadness, no grief- just a dance party and laughing so hard they could barely stand. I felt tears form in my eyes and no matter how hard I tried to blink them away, more seemed to form anyway. I heard someone call my name in worry, but I couldn't tell who it was and I didn't care to look. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the display in front of me. My heart crumbled in my chest and I felt actual pain seeing that my family was just as happy and carefree as before I had disappeared. I had seen and heard plenty of dance parties like this out in the living room in the lair while I had been working in the lab. I had wanted to join them and ditch my lab work plenty of times, but every single time decided that I would just spoil the fun and let my brothers and friends have their fun and not disturb them, despite how much fun it looked like they were having.

But this, this was nothing compared to those times. I felt like a Triceraton had taken my heart in one of their big hands and squeezed it as hard as possible. My brothers were having plenty of fun without me and didn't seem the least bit sad or upset by the fact that I was gone. Master Splinter was laughing fondly at their goofiness and April didn't seem at all sad that I- her best friend- was gone and was happily dancing with Casey and eyeing him with happy, laughing eyes. It was more than my heart could bear. But then, just as I was about to give the tablet back, the worst thing happened. The final straw, the one thing I had been wishing I would never have to see.

April and Casey gazed into each other's eyes for almost a full minute and seemed to move closer to each other, with Casey having both hands on April's waist and April with her arms around Casey's neck. Then April- not Casey, APRIL- moved in closer to his face and placed a kiss on his lips, surprising Casey enough to almost draw his hands back from her waist before he relaxed enough to keep them there and started kissing her back.

I dropped the tablet and it probably would have hit the floor if Starlee hadn't caught it with lightning-fast reflexes, but I didn't see that. I could feel my heart crack and break into a million tiny pieces, like it was made of glass. I couldn't see or hear the world around me- all I could see was that kiss on repeat in my head. April had made her choice, and it hadn't been me. She had chosen Casey and was now kissing him with more feeling than she had ever kissed me in the past. That, on top of everything else I had seen… It was all too much. I mumbled 'excuse me for a moment' before I flew up from my seat, ran for the exit and sprinted out of the bar. I didn't care where I was headed; I just knew I had to get away from there. I just ran and ran, blind to everything and everyone around me, tears streaming down my cheeks and sobs tearing through my chest and throat. I bumped into several people and heard several annoyed and angry outcries around me, but I didn't care. I had to find someplace where I could be alone and cry over my broken heart- without anyone around to see me break.

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 **A/N: Uh… Yeah, I'm just gonna let you leave your thoughts in the reviews if you have and… *hides under my bed* I'll be here until the next chapter is done.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, favorite and follow! G'night everybody!**


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